Boston Herald
By RICK SOBEY | rick.sobey@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch on Tuesday called for a rigorous federal review after a 100-pound evacuation slide fell from a Boeing aircraft and landed in a Milton front yard Sunday, in what he called a potentially “fatal error.”
“We want the FAA to do a stern review of the aircraft, and make sure this is not something systemic,” Lynch told the Herald.
He added that Milton residents should have a “very high” level of concern following Sunday’s incident, when a silver 6-foot escape slide dropped from a Boeing 767 onto an Adams Street yard. The slide came from the wing of a Delta plane traveling from Paris to Boston’s Logan International Airport. No one was struck by the slide, which crashed through the trees and landed just feet away from residents outside.
“We were very fortunate this did not hit a school or a home,” Lynch said. “It could have been a fatal error.”
State Sen. Walter Timilty, who lives in Milton, told the Herald that he’s “extremely thankful no one was injured.” The Federal Aviation Administration must be “more proactive and more protective of the communities on the ground,” he added.
In a Monday conference call with the FAA, Timilty said he told the FAA that there’s a “systemic problem with the FAA with indifference to the people I have the privilege of representing.”
“The FAA has to prioritize the protection and well-being of the citizens on the ground as opposed to its coddling of the airline industry,” Timilty said in a statement. “The Town of Milton deserves a series of explanations.”
The FAA said in a statement Tuesday, “The safety of passengers along with people and property on the ground are the Federal Aviation Administration’s primary mission. We are continuing to investigate the incident in which an emergency slide fell from an aircraft, and we will work closely with Delta Air Lines on corrective measures. When we determine the cause of the event, we will notify Milton residents and their elected officials.”
This isn’t the first time something dropped from a plane over Milton. In 2010, a teenager fell from a plane as he hid in the wheel well, plummeting to his death in a Milton neighborhood.
It’s also not the first time a slide unexpectedly fell from a Boeing 767. In March 2016, an emergency slide dropped from a Boeing 767 wing and hit a house near Phoenix.
Lynch said he hopes to receive the FAA report of the Milton incident by Friday. He has a meeting next Wednesday with the new FAA administrator, Stephen Dickson. For years, Lynch and others have urged the FAA to disperse the constant flights that have plagued Milton and nearby communities with noise and pollution.
“Much more can be done to put flights out over the water, for both incoming and outgoing flights,” Lynch said.
Sunday’s incident “does illustrate the vulnerability imposed on towns that lie beneath NextGen RNAV flight paths,” he added in a statement. “We cannot expect the community of Milton and surrounding towns to live in fear of debris falling from the sky.”
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