Passengers and crew evacuated an Alaska Airlines plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when fumes from a chemical deicer infiltrated the cabin.
More than a dozen emergency crews responded to the terminal Wednesday morning, causing a spectacle at an airport already struggling with bad weather and a holiday rush. Eighteen of the 143 passengers aboard the Burbank, Calif.-bound 737-800 were treated for eye irritation and other symptoms, said airline spokeswoman Caroline Boren.
Two pilots and five flight attendants were taken to nearby Highline Medical Center and have been discharged, Boren said. Several passengers received eye washes from medical personnel at Sea-Tac, but no more serious injuries were reported.
"A mild smell during deicing isn't unusual," she said. "Eye irritation is."
At Gate N-7, where the red-eyed occupants of Flight 528 had disembarked hours before, a Chicago-bound passenger who refused to give his name said he heard about the accident with the deicer and wasn't worried.
"I've been waiting a long time to get to Chicago," he said. "So if I need to take a bit of skin or eye irritation - life goes on."
Boren said maintenance crews were examining the plane to determine how such a high concentration of the fumes entered its cabin. Federal aviation officials may also investigate.
Aviation deicer fluids, some of which are similar to windshield-washer liquid, prevent ice from building up on a plane before takeoff. Earlier in the week, Alaska Airlines canceled all flights out of Sea-Tac in part because of a shortage of the fluid.
Airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt said Wednesday the only other cancellations at Sea-Tac were the result of delays or cancellations at other airports.
Passengers forced from the Burbank-bound plane boarded an 11 a.m. flight, four hours later than their original one, Boren said.
