Oxygen malfunction on Delta Airlines flight from Ghana to the US forces emergency landing

According to a passenger on the plane, the flight crew told members on board that the lack of oxygen was due to a technical challenge.

Despite the final destination of the flight being the John F Kennedy international airpot in the United States of America, Delta 157 did an emergency landing in Lajes Air Base International Airport on Terceira Island in the early hours of Saturday.

A pilot on the flight updated passengers on the airline about the emergency landing saying:

“We did have an oxygen malfunction, a crew oxygen malfunction in the cockpit. It necessitated us to divert. This was the closest suitable airport so that’s why we are here. No other reason other than the fact that this was the closest suitable airport. The order right now is looking for a maintenance individual. If they can fix it, they may try and get us out of here tonight.

“Right now, I don’t have a lot of information for you and I sure appreciate your patience in this matter. You have all been wonderful.

“I ask that everybody just remain as patient as you have been so far and we will get back with you as much information as we can,” he added.

The flight attendant also informed passengers that they will be taken to a small restaurant at the venue where they landing for some comfort items stating that they did not want passengers to ‘worry about food’.

He then assured that the crew will come take passengers out in about 30 minutes.

Ghanaian musician and BET award-winning rapper rapper Sarkodie was on the Delta flight that had the emergency landing. The rapper who was scheduled for an event in Detroit missed it due to the diversion of the plane’s route for the emergency landing.

Taking to his official X account (formerly Twitter) to update his fans, Sarkodie wrote:

“So I missed my event in Detroit due to @Delta doing an emergency landing on an island in Portugal yesterday. It was unfortunate but I know these things happen so I wasn’t trippin even though they communicated poorly and didn’t have the courtesy to update us on exactly what was happening.

Rapper Sarkodie Rapper Sarkodie Pulse Ghana

“Sat at the airport for about 6 hours and from complaints from passengers, this isn’t new with that airline, especially from this part of the world ( Africa ) they keep sending these weak old flights (business class almost same as economy ) to pick us up knowing very well they are not safe but still risk lives.

“We almost landed on the ocean but thank God we touched that island safe. No compensation nothing and our bags (are) still on the island. Moving forward I wouldn’t want to tarnish a business but hopefully they see to this problem and resolve it … and to my fans in Detroit I’m very sorry and we working on making it up to you,” he added.

Pulse reached out to Delta Airlines who confirmed the incident writing in a response:

"Delta flight 157 from Accra to New York-JFK diverted to Lajes Airport following a mechanical issue that required observation. The aircraft landed safely and an alternate aircraft is en route to Lajes Airport from Lisbon to help our customers more quickly get to their final destinations while the original aircraft is evaluated by maintenance technicians. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels."

The airline confirmed there were 215 customers on board with 6 crew members. The aircraft in question was Boeing 767-300ER.

This story was updated on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 18:30GMT to include Delta's response and Sarkodie's narrative.