United Airlines flight 4830 from Little Rock to Houston diverted to Monroe, Louisiana on Monday due to reported smell of smoke in the cockpit. The Embraer 145 regional jet (registration N14148) was operated by CommutAir and originally delivered to Expressjet in 2003.
There were a few interesting things about this flight. First, the aircraft was held on the tarmac until emergency services had inspected it, worrying passengers who thought they should have been evacuated quickly. Second, United ordered everyone pizza.
After about 5 hours on the ground, passengers continued to Houston on a different aircraft.
Just had to make an emergency landing on @united in Monroe, LA on a flight to Houston because we could smell fire and smoke came into the cockpit.
They won’t let us off the airplane until after the fire department, which doesn’t make much sense to me but ♂️.
What a Monday pic.twitter.com/RMq1BKJGrA
— The Ball Hawgs (@TheBallHawgs) December 2, 2024
Still stuck in Monroe, LA but they ordered us some pizza lolol https://t.co/xnqBxtyFYo pic.twitter.com/b7WwrzF6LG
— The Ball Hawgs (@TheBallHawgs) December 2, 2024
So why does the plane get inspected before getting everyone off? Especially when there’s concern about getting passengers off an aircraft quickly in an emergency. For instance, when plane configurations are certified a key consideration is being able to get everyone off within 90 seconds, using only half of the available exits.
However the need to inspect an aircraft in a situation like this is precisely for safety.
- They need to determine if the situation poses an immediate threat, such as a fire in the cargo hold, engines, or electrical systems? If there’s an active fire, evacuating passengers into smoke or near flames could endanger lives.
- Opening doors or moving passengers prematurely might feed oxygen to a smoldering fire, or a hard landing might have caused structural damage that make it unsafe for passengers to move.
- Sometimes the tarmac itself presents hazards for instance a fuel spill, so the safest path needs to be determined.
A planned delay in evacuation is going to be about ensuring passengers disembark in the safest and most controlled way possible.
Yet, when the aircraft reeks of urine, United does not do anything. No pizza. Nothin!
I recall when there were literal smoking sections on planes.
It was normal at the time, but seems so odd now. The configurations made no sense either. Last row of first: Smoking. Back third of economy: Smoking. Or, left side of the plane, smoking; right side, non-smoking. Did it make any difference? Nope. The smoke was everywhere anyway. Second-hand cancer for everyone.
And even when the smoking bans proliferated in the 90s, airlines still allowed the pilots to smoke, citing concerns over safety issues caused by nicotine withdrawal. By 2000, nearly all Western airlines banned it completely. In 2016, I flew Air China, and the pilots were definitely still smoking.
Thanks to the flight attendants and their unions for standing up for their and our health.
When an aircraft flight like UA4830 diverts due to smoke in the flight deck, passengers and crew usually do not want to wait 2-3 minutes for the airport fire department to arrive. Life safety is always first, and the emergency exits should always work. I am interested in why the flight crew insisted passengers remain on a smoking aircraft until the airport fire department’s arrival. The Aviation Herald reports, “A CommutAir Embraer ERJ-145 on behalf of United, registration N14148 performing flight UA-4830 from Little Rock, AR to Houston Intercontinental, TX (USA), was climbing through FL250 out of Little Rock when the crew reported smoke on the flight deck and decided to divert to Monroe, LA (USA) where the aircraft landed safely on runway 04 about 20 minutes later.
The FAA reported: “CommuteAir Flight 4830 landed safely at Monroe Regional Airport in Louisiana around 1:10 p.m. local time on Monday, Dec. 2, after the crew reported smoke in the flight deck. The Embraer E145 departed Clinton National Airport in Arkansas and was headed to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The FAA will investigate.”
The aircraft is still on the ground in Monroe about 25 hours after landing.”
@ Gary — WTH? What moron made this decision? There better be a really good explanation coning from United.
Evacuating by slides from an airplane is not a guarantee of it going smoothly with only minor injuries. Most evacuations of aircraft of this size or larger usually have some moderate injuries and sometimes have severe injuries. I’m glad that the officials on the ground made the right call.
Nonsense. When a flight must divert because of smoke, it is an emergency. Firefighters prioritized life. If the flight must land, life is the first consideration. 90 second rule should apply in a diversion.
I don’t get rattled by much anymore but the thought of being locked in a confined space like a plane, especially a small regional jet, with smoke coming in is harrowing.
Saudia 163 is what happens when you don’t evacuate immediately. Not sure they should have been legally allowed to discourage folks from deplaning immediately once safely on the tarmac.