American Airlines flight makes emergency landing in southern Utah

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000 | 10:14 a.m.

Flight 2821, an MD-80, touched down around 8:45 a.m. at the Bryce Canyon Airport less than a mile from the boundary of Bryce Canyon National Park. Airport manager Greg Pollock said none of the 70 passengers or five crew members on board were hurt and the plane was not damaged by the landing.

"It was just actually a prudent decision on the captain's part," Pollock said.

American Airlines said in a news release that there were reports of smoke and fumes in the cabin, and the oxygen masks were automatically deployed.

Authorities were searching for the cause of the smoke and the depressurization. No fire was reported.

Airline officials said the passengers, who were waiting in the terminal, would be bused to Las Vegas and then flown on to Los Angeles.

Airport workers were awaiting word from American Airlines on how to remove the plane from the small runway. Pollock said the plane had room to maneuver but it was uncertain whether it would be towed or taxi under its own power. American, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, said the plane would be ferried without passengers to a maintenance base.

Pollock said the tiny airport, which handles charters and commuter planes, was built for such emergency landings on the long stretch between Denver and Las Vegas.

In 1947 a flight en route from Los Angeles to Chicago crashed just short of the runway there, killing 54 people. It is still Utah's most deadly plane crash.