An American Airlines flight headed to Barbados from Miami Wednesday night had been in the air for over an hour when passengers and crew members became sick from a strong odor emanating from somebody's luggage.
The plane was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing back in Miami, with an official announcing on Broadcastify, "Coming in with toxic fumes coming from a passenger suitcase," according to WSVN Miami.
Once the plane landed, five crew members were sent to the hospital "out of an abundance of caution."
And the odiferous culprit? Although not confirmed, witnesses think it was nail polish remover.
From Insider:
"HazMat units performed a hazard assessment due to reports of a strong chemical smell inside the plane," a fire department spokesperson told Insider.
Five crew members aboard the plane — which was carrying a total of 173 people — were taken to the hospital "out of an abundance of caution" after the aircraft was evacuated, according to American Airlines and the fire department.
It wasn't clear what caused the chemical smell, but one man aboard the flight told WSVN 7News that the odor was similar to nail polish remover.
"Personally it didn't have an effect on me, but I understand that a couple of other passengers felt sick. They might have been vomiting," the man told the news outlet.
From ABC:
According to CBS Miami, passengers complained of an odor that was seeping through the plane on their way to Barbados.
The odor was determined to be coming from a passenger's carry-on luggage. It turned out to be from nail polish remover, according to a source who spoke with CBS News.
A passenger who did not get sick told WSVN the smell was pretty strong.
The passengers were put up in a hotel for the night and took off for Barbados once again Thursday morning, hopefully without the acetone.
