Antigua – Regional airline LIAT on Tuesday said it had returned to service an aircraft that was diverted on May 26 because of a smoky cabin.
Desmond L. Brown, LIAT’s Head of Corporate Communications, said in a statement that the airline’s maintenance officials had concluded that there was “ a transient fault in the air conditioning system”.
LIAT flight, LI 512, was en route from Barbados to Antigua when the incident occurred.
“Approximately 60 miles from the V.C. Bird International Airport, passengers and the cabin attendant observed what appeared to be smoke in the cabin. The captain was notified and immediately diverted to the nearest airport, Guadeloupe, which was approximately 10 miles away. The aircraft landed without further incident,” the statement said.
Passengers were accommodated on another flight Sunday night.
LIAT said the aircraft was examined by its maintenance staff and underwent various checks as stipulated by the manufacturer’s maintenance manual, however, no fault was found.
“Following lengthy investigation and analysis, LIAT’s Maintenance and Engineering Department has come to the conclusion that the short period of smoke entering the cabin was caused by a transient fault in the air conditioning system,” the statement said.
Correction: The incident occurred on Sunday, May 26, and not last Sunday as an earlier version of this story said.
The maintenance crew didn’t find anything wrong, so they call it a brief, fleeting, temporary problem and put the plane back in service. I don’t think that’s god enough for me, if I am way up in the air with fire or smoke around me.
I think the plane should be grounded until professionals can determine the real problem. You can’t take chances with people’s lives in the air.