By Philip Newman
An American Airlines jetliner en route from Haiti to John F. Kennedy International Airport carrying 222 persons made an unscheduled stop in the Turks and Caicos Islands Monday when passengers said they smelled smoke.
Minette Velez, a spokeswoman at American Airlines' Caribbean headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said it turned out to be a false alarm.
“The plane was diverted to Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Velez said. “The passengers and members of the crew were evacuated while mechanics and other airport workers conducted an exhaustive search and examination of the aircraft. Nothing out of order was found.”
After takeoff from Port-Au-Prince, passengers told members of the crew they smelled smoke in the cabin. Some officials later speculated that odor might have originated in clothing or the carry-on luggage of passengers who had been smoking before boarding the plane.
The American Airlines A300 Airbus, Flight 1272, had taken off from Port-Au-Prince at 1:17 p.m. on what was supposed have been a non-stop flight to Kennedy Airport.
The plane was delayed nearly five hours while it was searched. The 214 passengers and eight crew members then reboarded and the plane took off for JFK. American Airlines did not report its time of arrival at JFK.
The Turks and Caicos, a British Crown colony, are comprised of two groups of small islands located 100 miles north of Haiti and nearly 600 miles south of Miami.
