A PASSENGER plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Atlanta after it lost part of its wing.

Delta Flight 2412 from Orlando to Atlanta was in midair when the panel came undone, leaving gears and wires exposed on Sunday.

As a precaution, the crew declared an emergency on approach, and the plane was towed to the gate after it landed, Delta spokesman Anthony Black told media.

Could you imagine looking out the airplane window and seeing this? http://t.co/rcz1QNCYLz pic.twitter.com/GS3OA1vkBR — Michael Lowe (@Lowecountry) March 17, 2014

None of the 179 passengers and six crew members aboard the flight was injured.

“The crew, knowing that, followed procedure by declaring an emergency to air traffic control as they were landing, which gave them priority clearance to land and alerted ground crews,” Mr Black said.

Passenger David Watterson said he was falling asleep when he heard a big boom.

“All the passengers were remarkably calm,” he told ABC News.

He said he did not feel any immediate danger, but it was “concerning to see a big chunk of the plane missing.”

The airline is inspecting the plane to determine why the panel came off.

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