An American Airlines flight headed to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had to turn around Saturday morning after the crew noticed a strange smell on the plane.
Flight 3671 took off from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport just before 6:30 a.m. Saturday and turned around shortly after leaving the airport. The flight landed safely back at the airport.
KNWA-TV reports emergency crews were on standby at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, but were not deployed.
"These things happen. We have 20 to 25 of these a year. Most of the time it's nothing, and it appears it's the same in this case," Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Director Kelly Johnson said. "They didn't ask for assistance, but they [fire trucks] were ready to go if they needed to."
Airline officials said the cause of the smell was a mechanical issue. A maintenance team was brought in to inspect the aircraft. Most of the passengers were placed on other flights to DFW Airport.