One injured in emergency plane evacuation due to ‘strong odor’
Passengers aboard a Frontier Airlines plane were evacuated using slides and the jet bridge before it departed Charlotte for Orlando.
A ‘strong odor’ aboard a Frontier Airlines plane forced an emergency evacuation that left one passenger injured.
Flight 1759 was set to depart Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Wednesday evening for Orlando, Florida, when the odor was detected, a Frontier Airlines spokesperson told ABC 7.
Before the aircraft left its gate, the captain issued an evacuation notice as a precaution and all 226 passengers exited using slides and the jet bridge.
One person who used the slide was hurt and needed medical treatment for minor injuries, according to MEDIC.
Another passenger, Guadalupe Ocampo, recorded a video showing chaos as people went down the slide.
‘We extend our sincere apologies and concern for those impacted and are investigating the cause of the incident,’ the airline spokesperson told the news outlet.
‘Initial reports indicate that no visible smoke or fire was observed.’
Frontier Airlines said it was conducting its own investigation into what caused the odor and that it would report the incident to federal authorities.
Passenger Michelle Satterley said the situation unfolded with an error message and that crew were waiting for maintenance personnel to clear it.
‘Didn’t think it would be a big deal, and then we would take off,’ she told WSOC. ‘Five minutes later, announcements started going off and the lights started flickering to ‘evacuate, evacuate now.”‘
Another passenger, Shayla Coxton, said she and her family were heading to Disney World for spring break when the odor started.
‘In that moment, fight or flight,’ she told the TV station. ‘I saw a few people panicking around me, and I immediately said we got to keep everybody calm because if there’s a stampede, someone’s gonna get hurt.’
Frontier Airlines said it would provide all passengers with $200 vouchers toward future flights, as well as hotels for the night.
The plane is an Airbus A321neo.
It is not the only recent incident in which an odor has prompted a plane evacuation.
In October 2022, an American Airlines flight in Miami and destined for Barbados was evacuated on the tarmac due to a ‘chemical’ odor from a passenger’s carry-on baggage.
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