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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jet Passengers Make Unscheduled Overnight Stop Seattle To Detroit Flight Interrupted By ‘Suspicious Smell’ In Cockpit

From Staff And Wire Reports

All the passengers of a Northwest Airlines jetliner that made an emergency stop in Spokane on Sunday were back in the air by Monday morning.

The flight from Seattle to Detroit took an unscheduled detour here when a “suspicious smell” was reported in the cockpit.

None of the 280 passengers was hurt, and the feared malfunction turned out to be nothing more than burning oil, the company said.

Flight 68, a DC-10, landed safely at about 9:45 a.m. on Sunday.

“They thought they had a suspicious smell in the cockpit,” said Northwest spokesman Jon Austin. “They thought they’d land to get it checked out.”

Most passengers were put up in hotels, some at the Ridpath Hotel downtown, a hotel employee said. They continued their flight to Detroit on Monday morning, said Northwest spokeswoman Marta Laughlin. A few passengers flew out Sunday night.

Mechanics checked the plane and found no evidence of fire, smoke or mechanical malfunction.

Instead, they found oil residue on the auxiliary power unit duct - likely left there after the plane was “unplugged” before leaving the airport. When the left-over oil burned away, it created the odor and smoke, Laughlin said.

The plane left Seattle shortly before 9 a.m. About 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom and told the passengers the plane would make an unscheduled landing in Spokane.

“The pilot said something like ‘We have to check out some circumstances, some signs that appeared to passengers as smoke, but we don’t think it is. We think it’s condensation from the air-conditioning system,”’ said Marshall Wallace of Southfield, Mich., who, along with his wife, Dorie, was among the passengers.

Wallace said when he and his wife first boarded the plane, “We smelled a smell of petroleum. We thought it was inappropriate … but didn’t make a point of it.” Wallace said he later spoke with ground crew workers and other passengers and was told the cockpit had filled with smoke.

, DataTimes