A JetBlue flight was forced to make a quick emergency landing in Kansas — leaving some passengers in tears — Saturday night after pilots were alerted to possible smoke in the cargo hold, officials said.
The long-haul flight took off from New York City’s JFK Airport and was destined for San Diego but was diverted to Salina, Kansas around 6:30 p.m. due to what turned out to be a false alarm, JetBlue said in a statement on Sunday.
“JetBlue flight 1189 was diverted to Salina, Kansas when the pilots received a warning that there might be smoke in the cargo hold, descended safely and landed without incident,” a JetBlue spokesperson said in an email.
“Upon inspection, we determined that the smoke indication presented to our pilots was a false indication.”
The plane fell more than 30,000 feet in less than 10 minutes when it landed at the airport, according to Flight Radar 24 data reported by KAKE.
But with the Airbus A320 still in the air, the excitement – and fear – was palpable among the approximately 130 passengers.
Passenger Seth Odell said the pilot announced over the intercom that he saw a smoke warning in the cargo hold, according to NBC News.
“Some passengers reported hearing a loud bang as well, so we descended incredibly quickly and landed at the extremely small airport in Salina,” he recalled, noting that there was only 10 minutes between the pilot’s report and landing.
“So obviously everybody started getting scared,” Odell reportedly said.
“Some people were crying. It was a little intense for a few minutes. The crew did a great job of getting everyone organized extremely quickly, and obviously once we were on the ground, everyone was just excited.”
Salina Fire Battalion Chief Derrick Herzog said there were no major problems with the plane, but the problem may have been electrical, according to the outlet.