A Delta Air Lines 747 flight from Israel's Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport heading for New York had to turn back and make a emergency early this morning. The sudden return to Ben Gurion was caused when flaps on the 747's wings failed to retract properly on take-off.
Delta have confirmed that the Boeing 747 (N668US), Flight 469, which had 370 passengers and 17 crew members aboard landed safely back in Israel around 2.30am local time Sunday Morning. Two hours after it had departed bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Delta spokesperson, Jennifer Martin, claimed the flight crew made the emergency landing 'out of an abundance of caution.'
There is no evidence the issue with the Delta 747's flaps had anything to do with the continuing unrest between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Delta has issued a travel advisory regarding the 'Israel Unrest' advising the airline would continue to operate its New York-Tel Aviv service, but would allow passengers to cancel or rebook their plans whilst the conflict goes on, which could be some time.
The 747 restarted its flight to New York at 12.30 local today.