An Envoy Embraer ERJ145 was flying to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas from Gulfport, Mississippi, yesterday, when smoke was reported in the cockpit and cabin. Subsequently, the crew on board the aircraft diverted the plane to Alexandria, Louisiana.
Dealing with the issue
According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft that was performing the service holds registration N698CB. It was conducting flight AA-4170 when the incident occurred. When staff on board decided to divert. The ERJ145 was traveling at FL240, approximately 100 NM east-southeast of Alexandria International Airport. The plane landed safely at the airport’s runway 32, approximately 23 minutes later.
As a result of the event, a replacement ERJ145, registration N687JS, was deployed to take those on board to their intended destination. Eventually, the flight reached Dallas at 14:43 CST. Overall, there was a delay of four hours and 45 minutes.
The initial unit followed 14.5 hours later to head to Dallas. It has remained there at least 8.5 hours after touching down.
More about the aircraft
According to Planespotters.net, N698CB has been performing American Eagle operations since December 2004. Meanwhile, N687JS has been operating under the American Eagle brand since September 2004.
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Just last month, the carrier announced that its ERJ145 fleet is now equipped with HEPA air filtration systems.
The airline's MD of technical services, Jim Burden, explained the following about his airline’s filtration initiative in a press release seen by Simple Flying:
“HEPA filters, especially when combined with face coverings, downward-firing air vents with floor-level extraction and specialty cleaning products such as SurfaceWise2 are all part of our multi-layered approach to customer safety. While high air flow on the E145 fleet reduces risk considerably, we wanted to give crewmembers and customers peace-of-mind when working or traveling with us. Kudos to the maintenance teams for bringing this project over the goal line!”
The right response
This isn't the first time in recent months that an Envoy aircraft had an issue like this. In October, a jet of the airline was forced to return to its departing airport after takeoff due to a burning smell on the aircraft.
Altogether, there are no reports of any injuries following this weekend's incident. The crew ultimately took swift action to deal with the issue, and steps were taken so that the flight could eventually continue.
Simple Flying reached out to Envoy Air for additional details about what happened during this incident on February 13th. We will update the article with any further announcements from the airline.
What are your thoughts about this Envoy Embraer ERJ145 diverting to Alexandria, Louisiana, due to smoke in the cockpit and cabin? Have you witnessed anything similar during your travels over the years? Also, what do you think initially caused the issue? Let us know what you think of the situation in the comment section.