Passengers aboard Delta Flight 1076 from Atlanta to Chicago Midway the night of July 4 didn’t miss out on a fireworks display after all. The A319 was on short final when the crew “heard the bang on the plane” while descending through 200-250 feet and reported being hit by fireworks. “We’re just hoping it was just the mortar that went off underneath, but definitely felt a big bang,” a pilot reported to ATC after the plane was safely on the ground. Chicago Police reported later that there was some scuffed paint. The aircraft was taken out of service for an inspection.
The controller told the Delta crew that there had been “multiple reports” of fireworks, but it’s not clear if other aircraft were also hit. It’s also not clear whether the incident was accidental or if people on the ground were actually taking shots at arriving aircraft, but it wasn’t really dark enough to appreciate fireworks when the incident occurred about 8:30 p.m. The official Chicago Independence Day fireworks display was on the waterfront about 12 miles away and it didn’t start until 10 p.m.
