airtraffic

Author Topic: Spirit Airlines Flight Turns Around After Passenger Mistakenly Yells FIRE  (Read 1351 times)

Offline KB4TEZ

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1435
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/spirit-airlines-flight-turns-around-after-passenger-mistakenly-yells-fire/ar-AA148kmp?cvid=c82993c836644450a2892733af0e809c

I went thru the feeds a few times, never could find when they called it in.  Maybe someone else can look.

With a passenger’s misunderstanding and out of an abundance of caution, Spirit Airlines’ Flight 3152 returned to Miami International Airport to ensure the aircraft’s air conditioning system was not putting out smoke from any potential fire. The flight was able to make a quick return to Miami International Airport and be checked out before restarting and completing the flight.  Flight 3152 is a regularly scheduled service from Miami to Boston, operated in this case by a 6-year-old Airbus A321-200 registered N671NK. Yesterday's departure took off on time at around 06:00, with a block time of three hours anticipated. The airplane had just taken off and was climbing through 2,000 feet when a passenger, seeing what they thought was smoke coming from the overhead lockers, yelled 'fire.'

The crew quickly turned around and headed back on an approach path for Miami Airport, landing back on the runway less than 40 minutes after departure. Having checked the aircraft and found no sign of fire, the flight took off again at 07:45, landing safely in Boston just after 11:00. It is thought the passenger saw condensation coming from the air conditioning vents and wrongly presumed it to be smoke.

Spirit Airlines issued a statement to Simple Flying;

"There were no mechanical issues on board flight 3152 from MIA to BOS. A Guest saw condensation from the air conditioning system and mistook it for smoke. The safety of our Guests and Team Members is our top priority.

"The Crew on board completed the necessary checklists to ensure there was no fire and returned to the airport out of an abundance of caution. Law enforcement and fire officials met and cleared the aircraft, which has since continued to Boston."