Travel

American Flight Returns To Chicago Over Possible Odor, Smoke

The Dallas-bound plane made an emergency landing Tuesday at O'Hare International Airport nearly an hour after takeoff.

CHICAGO, IL — Reports of an odor in the cabin and possible smoke in the cockpit forced an American Airlines flight to return to Chicago for an emergency landing shortly after takeoff Tuesday morning. Flight 2587 had just departed from O'Hare International Airport on its way to Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport.

According to information on the airline tracking website FlightAware, the American flight — an Airbus 321 carrying 175 passengers and six crew members — left O'Hare at around 8:09 a.m. Tuesday, May 8. The plane, however, was back on the ground in Chicago at 9:13 a.m., the website stated.

In a statement Tuesday, American Airlines said the reason for the emergency landing was because crew members noticed "a possible odor in the cabin," according to NBC 5 Chicago. But passengers on the aircraft claim smoke was potentially entering the cabin.

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"Texts from my dad enroute to Tokyo on @AmericanAir via ORD to Dallas --- 'smoke in cockpit, making emergency landing'," the son of one of the flight's passenger's wrote in his Twitter feed.

Another person who said his fiancé was on flight 2587 praised the crew for safely returning to Chicago. No injuries were reported from the incident.

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RELATED: Cracked Window Forces Chicago Flight To Land In Cleveland

"I'm thankful for the great pilots at @AmericanAir," the individual wrote on Twitter. "My fiance's flight (AA2587 ORD - DFW) just made an emergency landing back at ORD."

American apologized for the flight delay and said a maintenance team would be checking out the plane, NBC 5 reports.

RELATED: Woman Partially Sucked Out Jet Window, Forcing Landing: 1 Dead

"We're returning safely back to ORD, and we plan on changing out the plane," the airline wrote on its Twitter account. "Safety is a top priority. …"

Last week, a cracked window in the passenger compartment of a Southwestern Airlines flight from Chicago's Midway Airport forced the plane to make an unscheduled landing in Cleveland. In April, a woman aboard a Dallas-to-New York Southwest flight was killed after being partially sucked out of the aircraft when the engine caught fire and a piece of shrapnel pierced the plane's window.

More via NBC 5 Chicago


Photo via Shutterstock


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