Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

A Delta flight coming into Chicago Midway on the Fourth of July got the most unwanted holiday welcome imaginable: the crew reported that a firework hit the plane during landing. Air traffic audio captured the pilot calmly saying they heard a big bang and would check the aircraft at the gate. The good news: the plane landed safely, there was no emergency landing, and Delta later said inspectors found no damage. The Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. agency that looks into flight safety, is now investigating.

But online, the real fireworks were in the comments. The loudest reaction was basically: enough with amateur fireworks already. One commenter said they used to love them and still gets the appeal, but argued it is time to leave them to the professionals. Another piled on with a horror story about a nearby house being torched by a Roman candle, turning the thread into a full-on anti-fireworks rant. That sparked a side debate over whether easier access to fireworks has made things worse, with some people nostalgic for the days when buyers had to drive across state lines for the dangerous stuff.

Then came the classic internet split. One person pushed back with a blunt, "How is this relevant? No one shot at the plane," while another basically said, have you seen Berlin on New Year’s Eve?—because apparently urban firework chaos is an international sport. The result was a perfect holiday comment storm: safety scolds, sarcasm, global comparisons, and a lot of people wondering why celebrating freedom keeps involving near-misses in the sky.