An American Eagle flight out of St. Louis was forced to return to the airport shortly after takeoff due to a "reported odor," the airline said.
American Eagle flight 5089 was traveling from St. Louis Lambert International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport on Oct. 17 and turned around about 15 minutes after departure, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24. The flight was operated by PSA Airlines, part of American Airlines Group.
“The aircraft landed safely at STL and was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team,” American Airlines told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “We apologize to our customers for their experience and thank our team members for their professionalism.”
Passengers were rebooked on alternate
flights.
Mark and Tessa Springer, a couple onboard, told KMOV that they heard a loud buzzing, grinding noise at the back of the plane before the pilot informed passengers there was an issue with the engine before takeoff. After the plane was in the air, the trouble continued.
“All of a sudden, the plane just felt like it hit, like in a car, when you slam on your brakes … and everybody kind of lunges forward like this. And then, I don’t know, a minute later, the plane just kind of goes boom and drops … all of the oxygen masks fall. And we just kind of looked at each other like, is this serious? Is this real?” Mark told the news outlet.
Haze filled the cabin and the pair jumped from the wing to evacuate upon landing, according to KMOV.
American did not share additional specifics on the nature of the incident.
The incident is not the only one of its kind in recent months. An American Airlines flight from Rome to Philadelphia diverted to Dublin, Ireland, due to a reported odor onboard caused by an oven in July.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Odor forces American flight to return to airport after takeoff
