Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Chicago Midway
A Delta A319 on final approach to Midway reported a loud bang at 200 to 250 feet after fireworks rose from nearby homes. The jet landed safely, but the plane was pulled for inspection.
Fireworks pushed into Chicago’s crowded airspace on Saturday night when a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 on approach to Midway International Airport reported a loud bang just 200 to 250 feet above the ground. Delta Flight 1076, flying from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Chicago, landed safely, taxied to the gate, and left no one hurt, but the aircraft was taken out of service for a full inspection.
The crew told controllers they heard the bang while descending toward the runway, and air-traffic-control audio captured warnings that fireworks were being launched from multiple homes near the approach path. That low-altitude corridor matters at Midway, Chicago’s second major airport, which is hemmed in by neighborhoods and residential streets on all sides.
Flight tracking from FlightAware showed the aircraft departing Atlanta at 7:51 p.m. EDT and arriving in Chicago at 8:33 p.m. CDT, though other status snapshots listed a 7:36 p.m. departure and an 8:38 p.m. arrival. Delta said there was no emergency landing, only a safe arrival followed by an inspection of the jet.
The incident landed in the middle of Fourth of July fireworks activity around Midway, where low-flying arrivals share airspace with neighborhood celebrations that can quickly become a hazard. Controllers said authorities had been notified after the crew reported the contact, underscoring how quickly a holiday display can cross from nuisance to aviation risk when it rises into an active landing path.
Federal investigators had not immediately released a public finding in the available reporting. The Federal Aviation Administration says preliminary incident reports can change and that airlines provide information for commercial aviation incidents while the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board handle investigations when applicable.
For Delta, the immediate consequence was operational: Flight 1076 was removed from service for inspection before returning to the schedule. For Midway, the episode was another reminder that in a dense urban airport environment, the margin between a holiday display and a landing aircraft can be measured in feet, not miles.
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