A suspected fume event occurred on a Boeing 737-800 that had just taken off from Kahului, Hawaii, headed for Seattle, leaving two Alaska Airlines flight attendants “incapacitated” and two others injured.
The pilots made an immediate diversion to Honolulu where medical personnel met the aircraft to assist the crew and passengers at the gate as a result of the incident.
On Friday, November 4, at about 10:44 p.m., Alaska Airlines aircraft AS952 took off and was flying over the Pacific Ocean when the pilots quickly conducted a U-turn in order to divert to Honolulu.
According to information gathered by the Aviation Herald, at least two flight attendants initially experienced dizziness before being unable to fulfill their duties.
Before their situations worsened, the pilots made the decision to proceed with an emergency landing and the two flight attendants briefly recovered.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated in a preliminary study that four flight attendants experienced minor issues as a result of a “fume”.
Moreover an hour after the decision to divert, the plane touched down in Honolulu. At that point, it taxied “quickly” to the gate where emergency personnel was waiting.
Although Alaska Airlines was asked for a response, the airline has not yet provided any new information regarding the state of the flight attendants. The plane has been in Honolulu since Friday, it is anticipated that it would fly to Seattle on Monday morning.
The two Alaska Airlines flight attendants were brought to the hospital and according to reports, the flight attendants reported feeling unwell after smelling a “strong chemical” odor.
These situations are frequently referred to as “toxic fume events”. In the airline business, these accidents are characterized as “smoke, odor, or fume” events.
According to a Los Angeles Times study that examined information from a NASA-run aviation safety reporting system, more than 400 passengers and flight attendants on U.S.-operated aircraft may have become ill due to “toxic gases” between January 2018 and December 2019.
