Fumes force JetBlue to make an emergency landing return trip to Orlando
Passengers on board a JetBlue flight from Orlando to New York Wednesday morning tweeted that they heard the pilot warn that there were “dangerous fumes” on the plane and that they would have to return to Orlando International Airport.
Flight 198, carrying 88 passengers to LaGuardia Airport departed at 6:30 a.m. and an hour later, at 7:30, the pilot made the announcement and headed back to the Orlando airport to make an emergency landing, WKMG Click Orlando reported.
Several passengers posted photos of the plane on the tarmac, along with emergency vehicles.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “three crew members and three passengers asked to be medically evaluated by the airport’s fire department and are being checked out,” Orlando International Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell told the newspaper.
No explanation yet on what the fumes were or what caused them and normal operations have returned at the airport.
JetBlue issued a statement:
“Shortly after departure, JetBlue Flight 198 from Orlando to New York LaGuardia returned to the airport out of an abundance of caution after the crew reported an odor. The aircraft will be inspected before returning to service, and flight 198 will continue on a different aircraft.”
Fumes also caused a JetBlue flight to return to its airport in the days approaching Christmas in December when fumes aboard a JetBlue plane headed to Mexico City made an emergency landing at Kennedy Airport because of an “unusual odor,” Pix 11 reported.
Fumes of a different kind caused a media skirmish earlier this month when a family on a return flight from Miami International Airport to Detroit were kicked off an American Airlines jet because passengers complained about their “body odor.”
The family accused the airline of removing them not because they smelled but because they were Jewish, they told NBC News.
American Airlines disputed their account of the incident.
In October, a burning smell and smoke forced a plane carrying First Lady Melania Trump from Maryland to Philadelphia to return to Joint Base Andrews, the New York Daily News reported.
And earlier this month, five crew members were sickened by fumes on an American Airlines flight from Philly to Fort Lauderdale.
This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 11:54 AM.
