Smell from passenger’s carry-on forced flight to Barbados to make emergency landing

Smell from passenger’s carry-on forced flight to Barbados to make emergency landing | Secret Flying

Chemical odour forces AA to make emergency landing.

 

An American Airlines flight from Miami to Barbados was forced to make a U-turn and divert to its departure point on Wednesday after passengers and crew smelled “a strong chemical odor” from luggage onboard.

 

Flight AA338 was halfway between the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos when those onboard were disturbed by the smell.

 

The plane turned around and returned to Miami International Airport where passengers were evacuated by emergency services and multiple cabin crew members were sent to a nearby hospital because they felt so unwell from the fumes.

 

An American Airlines spokesperson said the emergency landing was caused by “chemical odor in the cabin caused by the contents of a customer’s carry-on luggage.”

 

“The aircraft landed safely and without incident, and customers deplaned normally,” the statement continued.

 

The Boeing 737 aircraft had 172 passengers and six crew members onboard.

 

It wasn’t clear what caused the chemical smell, but one man onboard the flight told WSVN 7News that the odour was similar to nail polish remover.

 

“Personally it didn’t have an effect on me, but I understand that a couple of other passengers felt sick. They might have been vomiting,” the man told the news outlet.

 

He added, “It felt strong enough for a couple of people. We were in the back of the plane so it didn’t seem that out of the ordinary. I was hoping we could plow through but I guess not.”

 

American Airlines said that all passengers onboard the plane were offered hotel accommodations. The flight left again for Grantley Adams International Airport the following morning.