SEATAC, Wash. — Passengers on an Air Canada Express flight from Calgary to Seattle were evacuated on a Sea-Tac Airport runway for light smoke in the plane’s cabin.
Flight 8301 from Calgary landed safely at Sea-Tac at 8:28 a.m. Thursday.
A passenger on the flight said it was about the land when the cabin started filling up with smoke.
"Actually, I just looked up and it looked smoky, and I saw the flight attendants running their hands on the overhead compartments," said Khole-Ann.
As the crew looked inside the compartments, the flight landed.
Port of Seattle fire met the plane on the runway and the passengers were evacuated onto shuttles. No one was hurt.
"We got off on the tarmac. There were no gates, just the tarmac and waiting for buses," said passenger Rob Hauta.
Most of the passengers were on their way to the Mariners game against the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night.
Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said there was no serious damage to the airplane, a de Havilland Dash 8-400.
The runway was closed for about an hour but has since reopened.
Customers waiting to fly on that same plane for a flight back to Calgary said they were delayed and being re-routed through Vancouver.
The cause of the smoke is under investigation.
Air Canada released the following statement regarding the incident:
Jazz Aviation operated this flight on behalf of Air Canada, under the Air Canada Express brand.
Upon descent into Seattle (from Calgary), the crew of flight Air Canada Express 8301 detected a slight haze in the cabin. The crew requested emergency landing priority as is our standard operating procedure. The aircraft landed safely and the crew performed an emergency evacuation, again as a precautionary measure. Passengers were deplaned safely and were bussed to the terminal. There were no injuries to passengers or crew members. The emergency vehicles met and inspected the aircraft upon arrival and found no fire. Our maintenance personnel will perform a thorough inspection of the aircraft to determine the cause.
We apologize to our passengers for the inconvenience caused. The aircraft was a Bombardier Q400 aircraft with 74 passengers and 4 crew members onboard.
Cox Media Group
