Hydraulic Leak Forces Plane Back To Gate Seven Treated After Breathing Fumes

An Alaska Airlines plane preparing to take off for Palm Springs, Calif., returned to the gate Friday after a hydraulic leak was detected. Seven people were taken to hospitals after falling ill after breathing the fumes.

Flight 570, a Boeing MD-80 carrying 132 passengers and a crew of five, was preparing to push back from the gate when a flight attendant reported to the captain that she smelled an odor of hydraulic fluid, Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Evans said. A mist of fluid was visible inside the cabin.

The captain ordered the passengers to get off.

A short time later, three flight attendants and four passengers - a man traveling by himself and a family of three - complained of headaches, dizziness and shortness of breath, Evans said.

They were taken to area hospitals, examined and released.

The remaining passengers were put on another flight to Palm Springs that departed later Friday.

Mechanics traced the odor to a leak in an electric hydraulic pump in the right wheel well, Evans said.

“These pumps tend to discharge hydraulic fluid and there’s a collection jar there to collect it. They think the jar overflowed,” Evans said.

The fluid spilled into the auxiliary power unit, which when turned on spread fumes into the plane’s ventilation system, Evans said.