Delta plane dropped parts on Ben Gurion tarmac last week

Channel 2 reports on a worrisome malfunction — technical and organizational — at Ben Gurion International Airport last Saturday.

A Delta plane that took off for the United States close to midnight Saturday dropped parts of a wheel assembly and pieces from the plane’s braking system as it lifted off the runway, the network reports.

A radar system at Ben Gurion, designed to warn of debris on the runway, triggered an alarm in the control tower, but for unknown reasons a controller in the tower concluded it was a false alarm.

Ten planes took off from the debris-strewn runway over the next four to five hours, before daybreak revealed the scattered parts and led airport authorities to clear them off the runway.

Israeli officials notified Delta, which arranged for heightened alert at the plane’s destination airport. The plane landed safely.

According to the report, authorities do not know why the wheel assembly and braking system dropped parts. Israeli and American flight safety authorities are investigating both the damage to the plane and Ben Gurion Airport’s mishandling of the runway debris.