IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Smoke-filled Hawaiian Airlines flight makes emergency landing, several hospitalized

Hawaiian Airlines said the smoke was due to a failed seal in the left engine that caused "oil to leak onto hot parts of the plane's engine and air conditioning pressurization system."
Get more newsLiveon

Several people, including two children, were hospitalized Friday after a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Honolulu was forced to make an emergency landing when the cabin filled with smoke, an airline spokesman said.

Smoke began filling the cabin and cargo hold about 20 minutes before Hawaiian Airlines Flight 47 from Oakland, California, landed in Honolulu, spokesman Jon Snook said at a news conference Friday.

Snook said there was "no visible evidence of fire" on the aircraft.

A video taken on board the flight shows frightened passengers covering their mouths with clothing as a crew member makes an announcement.

The flight landed just before 11:40 a.m. local time and the crew immediately deployed all eight emergency slides so passengers could quickly evacuate.

Image: Hawaiian Airlines
Seven people were hospitalized after smoke filled the cabin of a Hawaiian Airlines flight.Kiani Hanawahine

Passenger Linda Puu said in an interview on "Today" that firefighters met passengers at the bottom of the slides.

"It's something you never think you're going to do. You go very fast but the firemen are down there catching you and helping you up," she said.

The plane was carrying 191 passengers and crew members. Seven people, two of them children, were taken to the hospital for "minor respiratory concerns," officials said. Airport Fire Chief Glen Mitchell said other passengers suffered minor bruises that did not require medical attention.

Everyone on the flight was evacuated in under 60 seconds, according to officials.

"To get everyone off the aircraft in that short time period showed that there was a well-trained crew on board," Mitchell said.

Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement that the smoke was due to a failed seal in the left engine that caused "oil to leak onto hot parts of the plane's engine and air conditioning pressurization system."

Snook said passengers will get a full refund and a travel voucher for another Hawaiian Airlines flight.