JetBlue flight has to make emergency landing after smoke alarm in cargo hold

A JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas on Saturday after pilots were alerted to smoke in the cargo hold, but an investigation determined it was a false alarm, the airline said.

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

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

“The pilot came [the intercom] and told us he had seen a smoke warning in the cargo hold,” Odell said. “Some passengers also reported a loud bang, and so we descended incredibly quickly and landed at the extremely small airport in Salina.”

Odell said there were only about ten minutes between the pilot's announcement and the subsequent landing in Kansas.

“Of course everyone was panicking,” Odell said. “Some were crying. It was pretty tense for a few minutes. The crew did a great job of getting everyone organized extremely quickly, and once we were on the ground everyone was just thrilled.”

Salina Fire Department personnel arrived at the airport around 6:20 p.m. CT and the plane landed about 10 minutes later, according to Salina Fire Department Battalion Chief Derrick Herzog. Fire department personnel assisted in disembarking all 130 people, including passengers and staff. No injuries were reported.

Herzog said there were no major problems with the plane, but pilot lights came on in the cockpit. The problem appears to be electrical, but firefighters are still waiting for engineers to investigate, he added.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not respond to a request for comment. Federal Aviation Administration announced that the incident was being investigated.

According to Odell, the plane's pilot told passengers that there were no signs of an actual fire after landing.

“It sounds like they said a fire extinguisher was used in the cargo hold, but they are not sure there was a fire,” he said.