Delta flight returns to LA after emergency

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilots of a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis declared an emergency soon after takeoff today when they began having trouble controlling their Boeing 757.

Flight 2116 safely returned to Los Angeles International Airport after circling off the Southern California coast for about an hour to burn fuel. There were no reports of injuries among the 152 people on board.

Comments from the pilots to air traffic controllers indicated they were struggling to keep the aircraft flying on a straight line. Aviation safety experts said that while unusual, the issue in this case did not appear too threatening.

Within minutes of takeoff, the crew calmly declared an emergency and an unidentified person in the cockpit explained, "we got a yaw problem, and we're having a little trouble controlling the airplane," according to recording on LiveATC.net, an independent website that monitors and posts communications between pilots and air traffic controllers.

Yaw refers to the left-or-right movement of an aircraft's nose, and controlling it is important to avoid not just the feeling of sliding but also a more dangerous problem called a Dutch roll — an exaggerated tail-wagging, rocking motion that can lead to a total loss of control.