ValuJet Plane Makes Emergency Landing

ORLANDO, Fla. —  A ValuJet plane returned to Orlando International Airport for an emergency landing Saturday after a passenger reported smelling “a smoke-like odor.” No one was injured and no smoke or fire was found.

Flight 116 bound for Atlanta returned to the airport shortly after takeoff when a passenger told a flight attendant about the odor, said ValuJet spokeswoman Marcia Scott.

The pilot passed the report on to the airport and turned the aircraft back as a precaution, Scott said. All 32 passengers and five crew members got off without problems.

Scott emphasized that an inspection of the DC-9 on the ground turned up no smoke or fire, and no cockpit lights indicating a problem went on.

An airport spokeswoman, Carolyn Fennell, however, said the pilot reported a strong “electrical” smell, first in the cockpit, then in the rear of the plane.

The incident came a day after weeklong federal hearings into the cause of the May crash of ValuJet Flight 592, which plunged into the Everglades after the pilot reported smoke in the aircraft. That crash, which killed all 110 people on board, was blamed on improperly boxed oxygen-generating canisters.

Also Saturday, at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1447 bound for Acapulco, Mexico, aborted takeoff after the left engine caught fire, said airport spokeswoman Angel Biasatti.

The plane, an MD-80 with 116 passengers and five crew members aboard, was evacuated. Three people were injured. Emergency crews extinguished the fire and the runway was closed.

American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said mechanics will have to inspect the plane to determine what caused the engine to catch fire.

And in Tulsa, Okla., a TWA flight bound for Oklahoma City from St. Louis made an emergency landing when the pilot noticed an electrical problem. The plane landed safely and no one was hurt.

TWA spokesman said the pilot decided to land Flight 519 after a generator for the auxiliary power system failed. The jetliner had 89 people aboard.