Airplane in the US filled with smoke, passengers evacuated

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that a Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 passenger plane returned to the airport after taking off from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport due to "haze or smoke" seen in the cabin.

Delta Airlines and the FAA said in a statement that the plane, carrying 94 passengers, 2 pilots and 3 flight attendants, returned to Atlanta and landed safely after experiencing a problem while en route to South Carolina.

In video recordings shared by some passengers on social media, passengers were seen covering their heads and faces with their clothes to avoid being affected by the smoke in the cabin, and leaving the plane via slides after landing.

Delta officials apologized to passengers for the issue, while FAA officials stated that an investigation was launched into the source of the problem.

Plane crashes in the US on the rise

The FAA announced that an American Airlines passenger plane and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Airport on January 29, killing 67 people.

On February 1, six people on board died when an air ambulance crashed near a shopping mall in Philadelphia.

On February 17, another Delta Air Lines passenger plane flipped over while landing at an airport in the Canadian province of Ontario, injuring 18 of the 80 passengers on board.