by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:37 AM ET, Thu July 30, 2015
A Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing at a remote United States Air Force base the Aleutian Islands Wednesday due to smoke in the cockpit area.
In a report from CBSNews.com, Cathay Pacific Flight 884 was given permission from air force officials early Wednesday morning to make an emergency landing at Eareckson Air Station in Shemya Island, Alaska.
The flight crew detected smoke in the aircraft and the captain made the decision to divert the flight. The Boeing 777-300ER was able to land safely at the United States military base, and no injuries were reported.
Ground crews examined the plane, and deemed it worthy of flying the 1,500 miles to Anchorage, Alaska Wednesday afternoon. Once in Anchorage, the 276 passengers and 18 crewmembers onboard were transferred to a new Cathay Pacific plane, before being flown on to Los Angeles, California later the same day.
Cathay Pacific spokeswoman Jennifer Pearson told CBSNews.com, "On the ground, the aircraft went through a series of checks and deemed serviceable so our passengers were flown onto Anchorage."
Upon initial investigation, the airline claims that an equipment cooling fan below the cabin floor near the cargo compartment had failed and caused the smoke in the cockpit area. Cathay Pacific said it will further investigate the incident.
The airline's service delivery director, James Ginns, told CBSNews.com, "Safety is always our top priority at Cathay Pacific, and the captain of CX884 made exactly the right decision to divert the flight as a precautionary measure."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
