10-07-2025
New York-bound airplane passengers spend day in Azores following emergency landing
Passengers on board a Delta Air Lines plane bound for New York from Spain had to spend a day in the Azores, following indications of problems with an engine, USA TODAY reported.
Delta Air Lines Flight 127 left Madrid for John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday, July 6, The normally almost 8 and a half hour flight landed at Lajes Airport on the island of Terceira in the Azores a little more than five hours after departing Spain, according to Flight Aware.
"As safety comes before all else at Delta, the flight crew followed procedures to divert to Lajes, Azores (TER) after indication of a mechanical issue with an engine," a Delta spokesperson said in a prepared statement. "The flight landed safely, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience and delay in their travels."
Lajes is a combined civilian and military airfield, according to the Atlantic Aeronautical Information Services website, under the authority of the Portugese Air Force, although a U.S. Air Force detachment is based there.
Terceira is an active volcanic island, according to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, and is one of the largest volcanic islands in the Azores. "Increasing seismic activity in the island since 2022 led the Institute of Volcanology of the University of the Azores to increase the volcanic alert level of Santa Barbara volcano on Terceira Island," the service notes.
While the last Santa Barbara land eruption was in 1761, there were underwater eruptions between December 1998 and March 2000 along a ridge west of the island, according to the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution as well as a magnitude 4.5 earthquake on the island in March 2025.
The Atlantic Aeronautical Information Services notes Azores Airlines flies from there to JFK International Airport and is a "convenient stopover point," having one of the longest and largest runways in the Northern Hemisphere as well as "full rescue services."
There were 282 passengers and 13 crew members aboard the Delta Air Lines' Airbus A330. Passengers spent about 29 hours at Terceira before continuing to New York on Monday. The cause of the engine problem was not immediately known.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Delta plane bound for JFK lands in Azores after engine problem
