06/26/2026
Approximately twenty minutes before the accident, Salt Lake Center Air Traffic Control warned the flight crew of moderate, heavy, to extreme convective activity at the aircraft’s 12 o’clock position and 74 miles ahead.
Yet the crew of Delta Flight 56 flew into a known area of dangerous convective weather, with the seatbelt sign turned off, beverage service underway, and no warning given to passengers of the dangerous conditions.
With severely injured passengers and crew, Delta did not declare an emergency, did not request expedited routing from air traffic control, and declined expedited handling when asked if it was needed.
Instead of landing at a nearer suitable airport, such as Salt Lake City or Denver, the aircraft continued for another hour and a half or more to Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Delta had a large hub presence.
Air traffic control warned the crew that dangerous convective weather was directly ahead. Yet with the seatbelt sign off, and beverage service underway, Flight 56 continued into the storm. Afterwar…
