Hundreds of passengers had to get off a flight using inflatable slides after a Delta flight was forced to suspend takeoff from Atlanta, Georgia, over an engine issue, the carrier said.

Delta Flight 2668 had been scheduled to set off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Friday. But the Boeing 757-300 abandoned takeoff shortly after 9am local time after what Delta said was "an indication of an engine issue".

Passengers got out of the commercial jet via emergency slides before being taken from the tarmac back to the terminal by ground transportation.

Four passengers reported minor injuries in the incident, one of whom was taken to hospital, while the other three were treated at the scene, Hartsfield-Jackson airport said.

201 passengers were onboard, as well as seven crew members, ABC News reports. 

Delta said in a statement: "Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers, and we apologize to our customers for their experience.

"We are working to support our customers and get them to their destinations as safely and quickly as possible."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will investigate the incident.

The airport said operations at the travel hub were delayed because of the incident as well as the "ongoing severe weather."

Tens of thousands of flight delays and cancellations have been reported across the US over the past 24 hours due to brutal weather conditions, as a cold front moves to the south, The Mirror reports.

It's left 245,000 customers without power in multiple states, with the majority of reports in Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana as per the outlet.

Hundreds of schools in Richmond, Virginia, and Washington DC have also been forced to closed, and a number of state police forces have reported an uptick in road accidents.