Flight bound for Boston makes emergency landing in Charleston after report of fumes

NORTH CHARLESTON (WCSC) - FAA officials say a plane bound for Boston made an emergency landing in Charleston Thursday evening after the crew reported fumes in the aircraft.

According to the FAA, JetBlue Flight 170, which is an Airbus A320 aircraft, landed safely at Charleston International Airport around 6:30 p.m.

"The flight departed from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and was headed to Boston," emergency officials said.

JetBlue says the plane was diverted to Charleston in an abundance of caution after reports of an odor on board.

"The flight landed safely at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time, and customers deplaned normally," said Morgan Johnston with JetBlue.

Passengers told Live 5 News that they smelled something similar to gas and believe the smell was coming from the rear of the plane.

According to JetBlue officials, a spare plane is expected to arrive in Charleston with passengers continuing on to Boston.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

Jaimie Hazebrouck was on Flight 170 and says the pilot remained calm and that passengers were notified in the first 20 minutes of the flight that something was going on and that the crew was looking into it.

Hazebrouck says it was about an hour later that plane officials announced they would be making an emergency landing after one of the crew members became sick.

"You could definitely smell gasoline or jet fuel," Hazebrouck said. "It just seemed a little funky in the air. Some of us who are nervous flyers got a little nervous and we were wondering if we felt sick or not. It was definitely a little bit overwhelming. We were anxious to get off the flight."

She says JetBlue offered them food and were good about providing passengers with updates.

The new plane is expected to leave at 1 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency crews including the North Charleston Fire Department and EMS responded to the airport.

Below is an on scene report from Charleston International Airport:

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