Delta Air Lines Flight Diverted Due to Kitchen Fire

A recent Delta Air Lines international flight had to be diverted shortly after takeoff due to a fire in one of its galleys.

The incident occurred aboard Delta flight DL-55 from Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta on September 23, according to Paddle Your Own Kanoo (PYOK). Roughly 40 minutes into the flight, crew members noticed a "small-scale fire" from one of the galley ovens caused by  "food debris on the oven's heating element," USA TODAY reported.

The blaze was reportedly contained to the oven, but the aircraft still needed to be diverted to Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.

Upon arrival, maintenance crews responded and inspected the plane, finding no damage. No one was injured in the small fire either.

What happened?

A cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Paddle Your Own Kanoo said. Potential fire starters in the galleys include fat or food residue in an oven, paper from a catering facility or equipment malfunction.

"Flight attendants have annual refresher training to fight various fire scenarios onboard a plane, and galley oven fires, and are nearly always covered. In most cases, the fire can be contained by isolating the electrical power to the oven.

"If there are visible flames, the cabin crew might discharge a halon extinguisher into the oven, or use firefighting gloves to remove the foreign debris causing the fire, and submerge it in water," said PYOK's Mateusz Maszczynski.

"If there are visible flames, the cabin crew might discharge a halon extinguisher into the oven, or use firefighting gloves to remove the foreign debris causing the fire, and submerge it in water."

Did the flight make it to Atlanta?

Eventually, yes. Passengers were stranded in Accra, but were provided with overnight accomodations.

The Delta flight completed its journey to Atlanta two days later on Sept. 25.

"As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew, the flight crew followed procedures and safely diverted to the nearest international airport," said Delta spokesperson Berj Alexanian. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel plans and we thank them for their patience."