Ceiling panel falls down at takeoff
Sep 10, 2013, 6:55 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: London
Programs: DL FO, BA Bronze, Avis Preferred
Posts: 851
Ceiling panel falls down at takeoff
I was on DL10 today (767-300ER), and as we were building speed to take off, a 10 foot long ceiling panel fell down over the left hand aisle in economy, just behind Economy Comfort. A flight attendant called the pilot to abort, but we were going too fast to stop. We continued our ascent, and once we got to 10,000 feet, the pilot and copilot each came out to ensure there was no external damage. They weren't able to fix it, but after contacting ATL, decided to continue flying to LHR. Luckily, we didn't lose pressure or have to return to ATL. The crew handled the situation very well, other than the pilot being a little too jovial while making a passenger announcement. I'm glad he's a better pilot than PR person. :-)
Sep 10, 2013, 7:09 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: BNA
Programs: Delta Silver (former GM, fighting way back), Paid Delta SC Member, Hertz Gold, Gold HHonors
Posts: 214
I was on DL10 today (767-300ER), and as we were building speed to take off, a 10 foot long ceiling panel fell down over the left hand aisle in economy, just behind Economy Comfort. A flight attendant called the pilot to abort, but we were going too fast to stop. We continued our ascent, and once we got to 10,000 feet, the pilot and copilot each came out to ensure there was no external damage. They weren't able to fix it, but after contacting ATL, decided to continue flying to LHR. Luckily, we didn't lose pressure or have to return to ATL. The crew handled the situation very well, other than the pilot being a little too jovial while making a passenger announcement. I'm glad he's a better pilot than PR person. :-)
Sep 10, 2013, 7:35 am
#3
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: on the path to perdition
Programs: Delta, United
Posts: 4,782
FWIW the panels have nothing to do the with cabin sealing for pressurization. The panels are meant to be removable - I wonder if one looked at the maintenance log if some work was recently done and the panel was not reinstalled correctly. Or enough vibration over hours of flights caused it fall. I have seen that with other panels though they did not fail but were loose. Most seem to be held in with plastic bits so I am not surprised.
Sep 10, 2013, 7:43 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: Whatever gets me there faster.
Posts: 746
Sidewalls, roof panels, bulkheads; they're like the upholstery in the roof of your car. They're not there to hold the plane together; they're there to make the cabin look nice.
Sep 10, 2013, 8:37 am
#7
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: JAX/St Augustine, FL
Programs: Delta Plat, Southwest RR, HHonors Diamond, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 529
Sep 10, 2013, 8:43 am
#10
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: MSP; SM with status & many BIS miles
Programs: AA, WN & many Hotels... avoids UA like the plague!
Posts: 1,019
Sep 10, 2013, 8:53 am
#12
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
It's lucky that the panel didn't hit anyone in the head.
Sep 10, 2013, 9:12 am
#14
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
Sep 10, 2013, 9:28 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: IND (Fishers Actually)
Programs: Delta GM, Hilton HHonors Gold, Amex Plat, F9 Summit
Posts: 99
I seriously hope the FA didn't call during the takeoff roll. While good CRM includes all members of the crew and an FA shouldn't hesitate to alert the cockpit of something major during the takeoff (although almost anything that would cause an abort would alert in the cockpit) something like a ceiling panel can wait until 10Kft.