Delta pilot refuses to fly Boeing 757 Atlanta 12/10/25

[red750]

Passengers on Delta Flight DL466 from Atlanta to Las Vegas were stunned when their captain suddenly announced he was refusing to fly their assigned Boeing 757. The veteran pilot, with over 25 years of experience, revealed that he had flown the very same jet the day before and filed a maintenance request for a possible elevator issue—an essential control surface for safe flight. Despite a nine-hour inspection that cleared the aircraft, his “gut feeling” told him something wasn’t right. Walking off the jet bridge, he ordered boarding stopped, explained his decision over the PA, and declared he was rejecting the aircraft for safety reasons—something he said he hadn’t done in 22 years. Even his first officer admitted it was only the second time in his career he had rejected a plane.

Though the decision caused more than an hour’s delay, passengers at the gate broke into applause, praising the captain’s transparency and commitment to safety. Delta quickly dispatched a replacement 757, and the flight eventually departed without issue. The incident highlighted the ultimate authority of the pilot-in-command, who by law has the final say on whether an aircraft is safe to fly. While the delay was inconvenient, the overwhelming sentiment was clear: passengers were grateful for a captain who put their lives ahead of the schedule.
 

[facthunter]

 An EX-friend of mine  volunteered to fly a Plane (Commercial Airliner)  that another Pilot had just refused. . Nev

[FlyBoy1960]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

 An EX-friend of mine  volunteered to fly a Plane (Commercial Airliner)  that another Pilot had just refused. . Nev

and ??

[facthunter]

It's pretty $#!t Form. Not very professional or ethical. That's why He's an Ex friend.. Would he have made a PA informing the PAX and Flight attendants that He was flying a plane another pilot had just refused. Would the Safety Authority Approve that  if it was brought to their attention? Nev 

Edited 10 hours ago by facthunter

[onetrack]

Just having a "gut feeling" about the safe condition of an aircraft doesn't seem like a satisfactory reason to refuse to fly it. I would've expected a professional, practical reason for the refusal.

[red750]

If it's a Boeing, I ain't going.

[onetrack]

I can recall being on a Virgin flight from Perth to Brisbane and we boarded, were pushed back, got out to the taxiiway, and the aircraft halted.

 

The Captain came on the PA and announced he was going to have to hold off on the takeoff for a short time, while he organised some adjustments in the cockpit. A LAME came on board promptly, spent about 5 mins in the cockpit, and then left.

 

The Captain then announced the adjustments had been carried out, and we were going to take off shortly, and thanked us for our patience. We departed promptly and had a good flight.

 

I couldn't even begin to guess at what control in the cockpit wasn't performing to the Captains expectations, but I was pleased he was careful enough to get the adjustment carried out to his satisfaction.

 

Edited 7 hours ago by onetrack

[facthunter]

 If you've had an inspection and FOUND NOTHING Its's NOT a very satisfactory position to be in, with the ONE control you cannot do without. HE Knew it wasn't right the day before.. I'm suggesting this to be the case.  as I cant see him ignoring IF a fix had been done. (Not JUST an inspection.).Plenty of failures are intermittent.. Plenty only show up when it's cold after flight at High altitude.. (as an example).   When you have High time on a Plane you get to Know a lot about them. I had  the elevators Jamb and landed on stab trim. I've also had stab trim jamb but at a different time and caused by Incorrect Grease on the stab trim Jack screw FREEZING.. Something we knew More about.  Nev