Odor of smoke in cabin forces jet to make emergency landing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Passengers were evacuated by inflatable chutes Tuesday after a Honolulu-bound airliner made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport because someone smelled smoke in the cabin.

No sign of fire was found on the aircraft.

Six passengers, including a child, were examined at the scene for bumps, bruises and other minor injuries, city fire spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

American Airlines Flight 31 to Honolulu, carrying 188 passengers and six crew members, took off from the airport at 8:48 a.m., American spokesman Tim Smith said.

A short time later, the pilot decided to turn back.

“They had some type of smoke or odor in the cabin,” Smith said.

The Boeing 757 landed about 57 minutes later and “the captain elected to declare an emergency and get everybody out of the aircraft via the slides,” Smith said.

Most passengers left on a later flight and were due into Honolulu more than five hours later than originally planned, Smith said.

Fire crews using thermal imaging cameras scanned the cabin and cargo hold “and thus far found no evidence of an active fire,” Humphrey said.

He said the airline, the National Transportation and Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said he could not recall the last time an aircraft had to deploy evacuation chutes at the airport.

Smith said one reason the pilot deployed the chutes was that the aircraft was totally full of passengers.