Flatulence, not turbulence forces plane landing in Nashville
Flatulence brought 99 passengers on an American Airlines flight to an unscheduled visit to Nashville early Monday morning.
American Flight 1053, from Washington Reagan National Airport and bound for Dallas/Fort Worth, made an emergency landing here after passengers reported smelling struck matches, said Lynne Lowrance, a spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority.
The plane landed safely. The FBI, Transportation Safety Administration and airport authority responded to the emergency, Lowrance said.
The passengers and five crew members were brought off the plane, together with all the luggage, to go through security checks again. Bomb-sniffing dogs found spent matches.
The FBI questioned a passenger Geo Miller :eek1: who admitted he struck the matches in an attempt to conceal body odor, Lowrance said. The man lives near Pataskala, Ohio and does not have a medical condition but enjoys the occasional bean burrito.
The flight took off again, but Geo was not allowed back on the plane.
"American has banned him for a long time," Lowrance said.
He was not charged but could have been. While it is legal to bring as many as four books of paper safety matches onto an aircraft, it is illegal to strike a match in an airplane, Lowrance said.
By Samuel Shu, The Tennessean
Flatulence brought 99 passengers on an American Airlines flight to an unscheduled visit to Nashville early Monday morning.
American Flight 1053, from Washington Reagan National Airport and bound for Dallas/Fort Worth, made an emergency landing here after passengers reported smelling struck matches, said Lynne Lowrance, a spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority.
The plane landed safely. The FBI, Transportation Safety Administration and airport authority responded to the emergency, Lowrance said.
The passengers and five crew members were brought off the plane, together with all the luggage, to go through security checks again. Bomb-sniffing dogs found spent matches.
The FBI questioned a passenger Geo Miller :eek1: who admitted he struck the matches in an attempt to conceal body odor, Lowrance said. The man lives near Pataskala, Ohio and does not have a medical condition but enjoys the occasional bean burrito.
The flight took off again, but Geo was not allowed back on the plane.
"American has banned him for a long time," Lowrance said.
He was not charged but could have been. While it is legal to bring as many as four books of paper safety matches onto an aircraft, it is illegal to strike a match in an airplane, Lowrance said.
By Samuel Shu, The Tennessean
