Three American Airlines flights and an American Eagle flight made emergency landings Monday, with two of them returning back-to-back of each other at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, CBS News reported. All of the flights landed without incident and without any injuries to any passengers.
While the first two flights to make emergency landings departed DFW, the other two were inbound from Sioux Falls, S.D., and Miami.
In the first instance, American Airlines Flight 1359 from DFW to Fresno, Calif., had to return to the airport because of an unspecified mechanical issue. The MD-80 departed DFW at about 11:20 p.m. and returned at 12:21 a.m., the airline said, adding that none of the passengers had been hurt, according to NBC News.
The 140 passengers headed to Fresno were moved to a new plane and departed for the West Coast at about 1:30 a.m.
Within the next two minutes, an American Airlines jumbo jet three hours into its flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina declared an in-flight emergency after a warning light in the cockpit indicated there was a pressurization problem, American Airlines said.
Flight 997, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 223 passengers and a crew of 14 , left DFW International Airport at 7:58 p.m. and returned at 12:23 a.m., said American Airlines spokesperson Laura Masvidal, adding that none of the passengers had been injured and were expected to be on their way to Buenos Aires at about 9 a.m. Monday.
A CBS 11 News photographer who witnessed the Buenos Aires flight as it landed said that the plane rolled out normally, accompanied by emergency vehicles.
"People who were on board told CBSDFW.COM that the plane had nearly reached Cancun when the pilot came on the intercom to tell them about the problem," CBS News reported. "The aircraft looped around and made several circles over the Gulf of Mexico to burn up fuel before eventually returning to DFW, passengers said."
In addition, a third American Airlines Flight 1615 from Miami to DFW returned to Miami International Airport late Monday morning after the pilot reported the smell of smoke in the cockpit, NBC News reported. After the flight took off at about 11:15 a.m. ET, the pilot of the Boeing 757 turned around and landed back at Miami at 1:09 p.m. ET without incident.
According to Mavidal, there was never any visible smoke and the plane is being checked out before being returned to service.
Separately, a regional jet being flown for American Eagle from Sioux Falls to DFW diverted and made an emergency landing at about 8:30 a.m. Monday after the pilot of the ExpressJet Embraer RJ reported a cracked windshield. The plane was diverted to Wichita Mid-Continent Airport and landed without incident.
Meanwhile, NBC 5 is also looking into a third American Airlines flight that might have made an emergency landing in Boston due to a wing flap issue.
