A JetBlue flight heading from Boston to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Sunday night after passengers smelled smoke in the cabin.
According to the airline, Flight 827 landed in Philadelphia just before 6 p.m.. The 95 passengers and four crewmembers on board were safely evacuated. No one was injured in the incident, the Baltimore Sun reports.
According to Laura-Chase McGehee, a freelance photographer and former Annapolis Capital newspaper journalist, passengers on the flight smelled smoke in the cabin but there was no smoke visible. McGehee said a flight attendant was shaken but she was able to prepare the plane for an emergency landing and kept almost everyone on the nearly-full flight calm, the Baltimore Sun reports.
JetBlue confirmed the incident and released a statement, saying "In an abundance of caution, the captain elected to divert, after the crew reported an odor of smoke in the cabin. The flight landed at 5:53 p.m. and all customers and crew were safely evacuated with no injuries reported. The customers are being reaccommodated on a later JetBlue flight."
"It was scary," McGehee said. "You don't really know how that's going to end, especially when you're going to descend at that rate."
She says the situation was handled professionally. Inflatable slides were used to help passengers leave the aircraft. They were taken off the runway by a bus. McGehee only said one person was crying.
"Several times I've been asked if I'm OK, which has really been appreciated," McGehee said.
The incident caused a few flights out of BWI to be disrupted. Jetblue may offer those passengers a credit for a delay. The passengers on the diverted flight were put on a later flight to continue to Baltimore.
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