Firework Hits Delta Flight As It's Landing Because That's How America Celebrates The 4th Of July

A mortar round reportedly hit a Delta Air Lines flight during landing at Chicago Midway International Airport over the weekend. The good news is, there are no fatalities to report because it was "just" a 4th of July firework, not a weapon of war, NBC Chicago reports. The pilots were also able to land the plane without any issues, but the Federal Aviation Administration still plans to investigate the incident. You know, because you really aren't supposed to shoot fireworks at airplanes. The FAA really doesn't like it when you do that. 

That doesn't mean it wasn't a scary situation for the passengers, though. The firework hit the Airbus A319 during its descent at about 8:30 pm local time, when it was only about 200 feet in the air. Apparently, the sound of the impact was audible inside the cabin. That close to the ground, the only thing the pilots could really do was finish their landing and hope whatever they hit hadn't caused too much damage. Based on their communications with air traffic control, they were pretty sure it was a firework from the start, and they didn't necessarily need to panic.

"Tower, we just had a firework hit our plane, Delta 1076. We're continuing," one of the pilots said in the released recording. "We just heard a bang on the plane, so we'll have to look at it when we get to the gate. We're just hoping it was just a mortar that went off underneath, but definitely felt a big bang."

The BBC reports the July 4 flight from Atlanta to Chicago had only 52 passengers and six crew members on board at the time of the incident, as well as the fact that air traffic control was already aware of firework activity in the area. "Delta 1076... use caution, there are multiple homes near the approach end shooting off fireworks," one air traffic controller told the approaching pilots, adding, "There have been multiple reports as you can imagine."

They also told the pilots, "The city is aware. They said they would notify the Chicago police, but you know, I don't know what they will do." Considering the fact that last month, WTTW News reported the Chicago Police Department has already spent at least $225 million settling officer misconduct lawsuits in the first six months of 2026, the answer's probably, "Beat a few people up, then force taxpayers to cover the cost of the settlement."

While CPD didn't comment on that particular report when asked about the firework hitting the plane, it did confirm to the BBC that the flight "was struck by an unknown object" that resulted in "minor paint damage." Which is certainly good to know if you ever plan to fly somewhere in the U.S. on one of our fireworks holidays. A firework getting sucked into one of the engines would probably be a lot more, shall we say, "memorable," but as long as the firework hits the fuselage, the plane itself should be fine. At least in theory.