Excess Gas Forces Landing

Filed in archive Fun Stuff on December 6, 2006

American Airlines Flight 1053 bound for Dallas/Fort Worth from Washington Reagan National Airport was forced to make an emergency landing in Nashville after passengers reported smelling matches.

The plane with 99 passengers aboard landed safely and the FBI, Transportation Safety Administration and airport authority responded to the scene.

After a search of passengers and crew, bomb-sniffing dogs found evidence of burnt matches. A passenger finally admitted to striking the matches in an attempt to cover the odor of flatulence.

The flight was allowed to proceed, but the woman was not.

"American has banned her for a long time," Lynne Lowrance, a spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority, said.

The woman is not facing any charges, but officials said it is illegal to strike a match in an airplane.