Delta flight returns to Atlanta airport because of possible smoke in the cockpit

A blue Delta baggage claim carousel

Luggage travels along the baggage claim carousels at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

This story was updated on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at 7:13 p.m.

A Delta Air Lines flight returned to the Atlanta airport soon after taking off Monday when crew members reported a smoky haze inside the cockpit, according to federal officials.

Delta Flight 876 to Columbia, South Carolina, returned safely to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday morning “after the crew reported possible smoke in the flightdeck,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.