INDIANAPOLIS -- An Allegiant Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday evening after a “noxious smell” was detected in the cabin.
Allegiant Flight 1878 took off from the Indianapolis International Airport at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. It was scheduled to land at Myrtle Beach International Airport at 4:27 p.m.
Mid-flight, however, flight attendants came on the intercom and informed passengers that the plane was going to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport due to a “noxious smell” in the cabin.
The plane landed at Asheville Regional Airport, where passengers were asked to deplane. A passenger aboard the flight told Scripps station WRTV in Indianapolis that as she did so she could smell a “burning, smoky smell” near the cabin.
In a statement to WRTV, Allegiant said the flight was diverted to Asheville "out of an abundance of caution to check out an electrical odor. The cause of the odor was not yet known.
As of 9 p.m., passengers said they had been informed there would be an additional 25-30 minute delay as a problem had been detected in an air conditioning valve in the plane sent to pick them up.