An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to divert its course after four flight attendants fell ill, leading to their hospitalization. The flight, Alaska Airlines Flight 810, was initially en route from Lihue, Kauai in Hawaii to Seattle on Thursday night. However, due to the sudden illness of the crew members, the plane had to make an unexpected landing in Honolulu approximately 90 minutes after its departure.
The flight attendants reported feeling unwell following the detection of an unidentified odor in the cabin. The airline, which has yet to respond to inquiries about the incident, confirmed that the flight had 119 passengers and six crew members on board. It was noted that none of the pilots or passengers required medical attention following the incident.
In response to the situation, Alaska Airlines arranged alternative flights to Seattle for all passengers. The aircraft, identified as a Boeing 737-800, was flown back to Seattle without passengers for further investigation.
Details about the nature of the odor detected in the cabin or the condition of the flight attendants after their hospital evaluation remain undisclosed.
Alaska Airlines has been in the news recently due to its ongoing merger process with Hawaiian Airlines. Earlier this year, the airline made headlines when a door plug on one of its Boeing 737-9 MAX flights blew out in January.
In a related development, Boeing faced criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this summer. The rebuke was in response to the company sharing details about the investigation into the door plug incident during a media briefing. The briefing was led by Elizabeth Lund, the senior vice president of quality for Boeing commercial airplanes and chair of the Enterprise Quality Operations Council.