JetBlue plane makes emergency landing after smoke alarm in cargo hold

A JetBlue flight made an emergency landing in Kansas on Saturday after pilots were alerted to smoke in the cargo hold. However, upon inspection, it turned out to be a false alarm, the airline said.

The plane landed safely and “without incident,” the airline said in a statement.

Flight 1189 was en route from New York to San Diego when the pilot announced that a warning had been received of a fire or smoke in the cargo hold, passenger Seth Odell said. The Salina Airport Authority said there were about 130 people on board.

“The pilot got on (the intercom) and let us know he saw a smoke warning in the cargo hold,” Odell said. “Some of the passengers also reported hearing a loud bang, so we descended incredibly quickly and landed at the extremely small airport in Salina.”

Odell said there were only 10 minutes between the pilot’s announcement and the subsequent landing in Kansas.

“So everybody obviously started freaking out,” Odell said. “Some people were crying. It was pretty intense for a couple of minutes. The crew did a great job of getting everybody organized really quickly, and once we got on the ground, everybody was just elated, of course.”

The Salina Fire Department responded to the airport around 6:20 p.m. CT, and the plane landed about 10 minutes later, Salina Fire Battalion Chief Derrick Herzog said. The department helped unload all 130 people, including passengers and crew. No injuries were reported.

Herzog said there were no major problems with the plane, but that indicator lights in the cockpit had come on. The problem appears to be electrical, but firefighters are still waiting for technicians to investigate, he added.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not respond to a request for comment. Federal Aviation Administration said the incident would be investigated.

According to Odell, the plane’s pilot told passengers after landing that there was no indication that there was actually a fire.

“It appears they said there was a fire extinguisher in the cargo area, but they are not sure if there was a fire,” he said.