Passengers onboard a scheduled Delta Air Lines flight found themselves returning to Atlanta after the Boeing 757-200 (the last ever built) experienced engine issues, requiring it to return to base. First reported by Atlanta News First, the flight was carrying 191 passengers, two pilots, and four crew. Affected passengers were rebooked onto an alternative flight.

The flight, Delta Air Lines 2627, is usually a short 45 minute hop from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), however for this flight on Sunday, December 28, the flight barely left Atlanta airspace, instead circling south of the city to burn fuel, and never rose more than 11,000 feet (3,300 meters) in altitude as per data from Flightradar24.

Experiencing Engine Problems Shortly After Take Off

Skyteam partner Delta Air Lines had expected to operate its scheduled evening service to Jacksonville, just across the state line in the Sunshine State of Florida. The service DL2627, pushed back from the gate at ATL at 4:42 pm with an expected flight time of around 45 minutes to JAX.

Departing from Delta’s busiest airport, the flight operated by its Boeing 757-200 (registration N823DX) took off in a westerly direction, rising to an altitude of around 10,000 feet, before it appears the pilots experienced an engine issue, forcing them out of an abundance of caution to request a return to base, for further inspection.

This led to the flight remaining in a circling position between 7,000 and 10,000 feet, while they were given clearance to land, before touching down back in Atlanta around 33 minutes later. Simple Flying reached out to Delta Air Lines for a statement on the flight; the airline did not immediately respond by the time this article was published.

Returning To Atlanta

Operated by the 21-year-old aircraft, it managed to land back safely at ATL at approximately 5:15 pm, where the aircraft was met and inspected by the Delta maintenance crew. Passengers were disembarked and rebooked onto a replacement flight. Data from Flightradar24 suggests this was DL2627 (same flight number) – however, this time operated by N6716C (another Boeing 757-200 – 24 years old).

The replacement flight departed from Atlanta at 9:44 pm and arrived in Jacksonville at 10:27 pm local time. This meant the return flight was also delayed, DL2627 departed JAX at 11:32 pm (instead of 6:41 pm), and arrived back into Atlanta at 0:14 am the next morning (instead of the scheduled 8:12 pm).

Jacksonville International Airport is located approximately 13 miles (21 km) from downtown Jacksonville, and Delta is the second largest operator at the airport (after American Airlines). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics identifies that Delta, between July 2024 and June 2025, operated 22% of all flights from the airport, representing 1.65 million passengers. It operates non-stop services to Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and New York–JFK on mainline aircraft, and Austin, Boston, New York–JFK, and New York–LaGuardia onboard Delta Connection aircraft.

N823DX: The Last Built 757-200

The aircraft at the centre of the drama (pictured) was N823DX (serial number 33967 / Hex code AB3C61). It remained on the apron at Atlanta overnight while it was inspected and then declared fit to fly again. It returned to regular service the following afternoon (Monday, December 29), as DL8916 from Atlanta to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). It has operated without any major disruption since.

According to data from ch-aviation, the aircraft was the last 757-200 ever built, and took its first test flight on November 16, 2004, for Boeing. The aircraft was then subsequently handed over to Shanghai Airlines (B-2876) on April 26, 2005, and operated regular scheduled flights for the Chinese carrier. It was later stored from November 2014 under registration N338BC).

Delta took possession of the aircraft on February 29, 2016, where it is now fitted out to carry a total of 193 passengers across a three-class layout (20 Delta First, 41 Delta Comfort, and 132 Delta Main). The plane is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW2037 engines.