MANILA – A Boeing 747 series 400 plane of Delta Airlines bound for New York via Narita was cancelled Friday due to engine problem.

Delta Air flight DL 172 with more than 300 passengers was supposed to depart around 7:40 a.m. from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.

It was initially delayed for over 45 minutes after the pilot and ground personnel heard a loud sound emanating from the first engine from the right wing during the initial safety inspection prior to takeoff.

Dante Basanta, NAIA Terminal 1 manager, confirmed to ABS-CBN that the Delta Airlines flight was declared cancelled when a titanium object believed to be also part of the plane was found inside the engine haul.

Some of the affected passengers were transferred to another flight while some were billeted to a hotel while waiting for the resumption of their flight.

The damaged plane was towed at remote parking 24 from terminal bay 10 after the passengers disembarked and their luggage offloaded from the plane. — By Raoul Esperas