Passenger plane makes emergency landing at El Dorado airport

EL DORADO, Ark.-Mechanics weren't able to identify a problem with a passenger plane that made an emergency landing at the South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field as it headed from Houston to Indianapolis.

Pilots landed the United Airlines plane, operated by Indianapolis-based Shuttle America Corporation, in El Dorado on Monday night after a flight attendant saw or smelled smoke in the aircraft's galley, airport manager Tim Johnson told the El Dorado News-Times.

"One of the initial reports said there was smoke in the cockpit, but it was in the galley. There was no fire. It was an uneventful landing," Johnson said.

The El Dorado Fire Department helped get all 66 passengers off the plane and into the terminal. Jeff Teague, chairman of the El Dorado Airport Commission, and representatives from United Airlines were on the scene to accommodate the passengers and crew.

The American Red Cross of Union County provided food and water for the passengers while they waited at the airport.

The passengers eventually were shuttled to hotels in Little Rock, where they spent the night, and then to the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport to catch a flight to Indianapolis. The United Airlines crew stayed at hotels in El Dorado and then returned to the South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.

When mechanics continued to check out the next morning, they were unable to pinpoint the problem that prompted the emergency landing.

"They said they checked for the normal things you would check for, and everything appeared to be functioning properly," he said.

The plane was able to fly to Indianapolis without further incident Tuesday afternoon.

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