A flight en route to Germany was forced to make an emergency landing at Boston's Logan Airport late Monday night after smoke was discovered in the cockpit, according to officials.
Lufthansa Flight No. 403 took off from Newark, New Jersey, and was on its way to Frankfurt when a "technical irregularity" caused some smoke in the cabin, the airline told NBC10 Boston. The pilot declared an emergency and the plane was diverted to Boston. The crew used oxygen masks during this time, a spokesperson for Massachusetts State Police said. Passengers told NBC10 Boston that oxygen masks did not drop down at their seats.
The plane landed at Logan at 10:25 p.m. without further incident, according to state police and the airline. The aircraft taxied to a gate where all passengers disembarked, Lufthansa and the Massachusetts Port Authority added.
A photo taken from inside the plane shows the aircraft surrounded by emergency vehicles on the tarmac. Travelers confirmed they were surrounded by several fire trucks when they landed.
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"I was going crazy, I thought like maybe when they open the door, boom or something!" Mordy Lebovits said.
There were 326 people on board, according to state police. The airline reported there were no injuries.
A Lufthansa spokesperson said maintenance crews were taking a look at the Boeing 747 and would determine if the aircraft could continue to its final destination, however passengers were later Monday seen collecting their luggage in baggage claim. The spokesperson did say they would work to rebook passengers if necessary.
Passengers inside the terminal who spoke to NBC10 Boston Monday night said they didn't smell any smoke but some said they did experience turbulence. Several said they were nervous during the ordeal.
"I mean I was kind of scared," Ava Rankin said. "I've been on a lot of flights in my life and I was like, just like, please let us be safe, let it be okay, because we were right over the ocean, so I didn't really know what was going to happen."
Rankin spoke to NBC10 Boston while she was on hold with the airline trying to rebook her flight.
"They told us there were electrical issues and they had to land the plane. And most people on the flight, it was a connecting flight, so no one's able to get to their connections anymore so I guess everyone's trying to rebook so I've just been on hold," Rankin said, adding she had been on hold for more than 20 minutes.
"It felt like turbulence but they said it was electrical issues and there was a smell, but it was really like, it literally fell like you were falling out of the sky," she shared of what she experienced onboard. "People were screaming near me, which I've never experienced that on a flight before."
"I was really, really scared the whole entire time," Lebovits said. "There was crazy turbulence the whole time, and then we just came out of the clouds, right on the runway like really, really fast. I've never been on a faster plane landing in my life."
"Right now, we're stuck a little bit. We're under 21 so we can't book a hotel room," he added of the group he was traveling with. "We'll figure it out."
Lebovits and three other 18-year-olds were headed to Germany for a historical tour and said they were unsure of where they would be able to stay during the unscheduled detour in Boston.
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"The captain or someone noticed some smoke or some electric thing, so they came on the radio and said we had a technical problem and have to do an emergency landing in Boston," Amen Abas said.
Abas, who planned to stay in Boston overnight and wait to see what flight he could get back home Tuesday, added that he felt "a little bit nervous because you know, emergency landing's not in the plan. You see crew members, a little nervous, going around, checking out."
Francis Nyikata said he was about to start dinner when the captain came on to inform the passengers they were being diverted to Boston due to a mechanical problem. He also noted there was some turbulence.
"When we landed, they came back on the phone again and explained they had procedures that they had to follow. They had like some sort of electrical smell in the cabin and that's why they had to land," he added.
"This was not part of the plan," Nyikata said, adding his final destination was Africa.
Others said they weren't too afraid during the incident, and that the pilots handled the unexpected situation well.
"Thirty minutes into the flight, we heard that there was electrical smoke or fire or something like that on the plane. We all kind of just stayed calm, and heard that we had to land in Boston for an emergency landing," Ben Mohrstedt said as he was waiting for his luggage. "Not too frightening, the pilots were very confident in what they were doing, and they did a great landing, so we were all very happy to be safe."
Mohrstedt, who was visiting family in the US, said the passengers did not use oxygen masks. He was seated in the middle of the plane and did not see any smoke or smell anything.
Daniel Arye, who was ultimately headed to Poland, said he heard there was some sort of electrical smell. They experienced some turbulence, and then they landed, he said, adding he felt calm.
As passengers continued to collect their bags Monday night, some were wondering where they were going to do and how they were going to get home -- noting the trip first started out on the wrong foot in New Jersey.
"It started out bad already, in Newark, the one plane we were supposed to get on there, they took that thing out of there, and put that thing in there, it was like bad luck to begin with. I mean, the second plane already," another passenger said. "How we gonna get [to Frankfurt]? I hope some people show up and tell us what to do."
