Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 lost nose gear before takeoff, FAA says

A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 plane lost a nose gear Saturday as it prepared to take off from Atlanta's main airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It was the latest disturbing episode involving one of the manufacturer's aircraft.

Delta Air Lines Flight 982 was preparing to take off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for a trip to Bogotá, Colombia, about 11:15 a.m. Saturday when a “nose gear came loose and rolled down the hill,” the agency said in a preliminary report.

More than 170 passengers on board had to leave the plane, but no one was injured, the report said.

A Delta spokesperson said the passengers had been put on a replacement flight.

A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment and referred questions to Delta.

The FAA said it was continuing its investigation.

It has been a turbulent period for Boeing, which has struggled with safety problems in recent years following deadly catastrophes. The manufacturer is under renewed scrutiny after a door plug blew a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane at 16,000 feet on January 5, just after it took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon.

No one was seriously injured, but passengers were exposed to high winds during the plane's harrowing return to Portland.

The FAA subsequently ordered approximately 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be grounded in the United States until they could be inspected. The plane that lost a wheel in Atlanta on Saturday, a Boeing 757, is a different model.