‘Being alive feels pretty cool today:’ Delta passengers hold collapsed interior ceiling at ‘30,000 feet’

Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight endured a terrifying ordeal when part of the plane's interior ceiling collapsed mid-flight, forcing them to physically support the structure. The incident occurred on April 14 during a flight from Atlanta to Chicago, leaving shaken passengers scrambling to manage the situation, according to a report by the New York Post.

As the plane cruised at 30,000 feet, a video captured inside the cabin showed several men reaching up with their arms to hold up the sagging ceiling.
 

"My business partner was on a @delta flight from ATL to Chicago Monday when the roof of the plane collapsed. They were an hour outside of Chicago, had to go back to Atlanta," Lucas Michael Payne, a content creator, captioned the video of the incident.
 

After passengers stepped in to support the ceiling, the flight crew used duct tape to temporarily secure the collapsed section of the roof.

"The attendants finally duct taped it after he held it up for a while," Payne explained while outraged about the spotty patch job.
 

When asked about the incident, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson responded, "Delta thanks our customers for their patience and cooperation. We apologize for the delay in their travels."
 

According to Payne, Delta compensated the passengers with "10,000 miles (basically 100 dollars)" and added that they were forced to wait "for hours and deplane and get on another plane to Chicago". "Planes are falling apart and no one is accountable!!!" he added.

Social media reacts

Reacting to the video, some users expressed concerns about the safety of passengers, while others said the panels did not compromise the plane's safety.

“Being alive feels pretty cool today,” a survivor of the chaos wrote on Instagram

"OMG. So no one saw this on inspection of the plane," said one user, while another questioned: "It's just an interior panel. Will not compromise safety of flight."

A third commented: "That panel literally pops back into place if they tried."
 

This isn’t the first time Delta has made headlines over issues with its aircraft. Back in February, a Delta plane crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport and flipped upside down on the runway. Despite the dramatic scene of the aircraft resting on its roof, all 80 passengers on board survived.