Delta Boeing 767 leaving JFK called back after emergency slide falls off

A Delta Airlines Boeing 767 flying out of JFK Airport had to turn back and make an emergency landing Friday after its emergency slide chute fell off the aircraft, the Daily News has learned.

The L.A.-bound flight had just left the Queens airport around 8:30 a.m. when the flight crew heard a “non-routine sound” and noticed a problem “related to the right wing emergency exit slide,” the airline said.

The plane landed back at JFK Airport without incident, with responding emergency crews seeing that the emergency slide had somehow fallen off the plane, a Port Authority source with knowledge of the incident said.

“No one knows where it is,” the source said. “Hopefully it fell into Jamaica Bay. If not, someone in Ozone Park has a new slip and slide.”

No injuries were reported.

“As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta flight crews enacted their extensive training and followed procedures to return to JFK,” a Delta spokesman said in a statement, adding that the aircraft had no pressurization issues. “We appreciate their professionalism and our customers’ patience for the delay in their travels.”

The Boeing 767 returned to the gate under its own power, but was pulled out of service to be thoroughly inspected, the airline said.

The flight’s passengers were put on another plane and departed JFK Airport just before 11 a.m., according to the airline website.

The Federal Aviation Administration is already investigating an air traffic control snafu at JFK from April 17 when a Swiss airliner was given a green light to head down a runway where four other aircraft were crossing downfield.

The pilot of the Swiss airliner aborted takeoff, preventing a possible collision, officials said.