Passenger Does Nails, Grounds San Diego-bound Flight

A United Airlines flight from Chicago to San Diego made an emergency landing in Denver on Friday night -- because a passenger was doing her nails, officials said.

Crew members of Flight 787 smelled a foul odor in the cabin and cockpit, said Allen Kenitzer, an FAA regional spokesman.

The pilot looked at his cargo manifest and noticed that the plane was carrying five 5-liter containers of acetone, a hazardous substance, Kenitzer said. So he decided to divert the Airbus A320 and its 134 passengers to Denver International Airport, landing at 9:30 p.m. Friday, two hours after takeoff.

A hazardous-materials team searched the plane and found no evidence the acetone was leaking or that any cargo was causing an odor.

They later determined the cause was a passenger doing her nails.

"A female passenger came forward and owned up to it," Kenitzer said, although he didn't know whether she alerted officials in the air or once on the ground. He also couldn't say whether she was using nail polish or nail polisher remover. Both can contain acetone.

The woman was allowed to continue to San Diego but will be interviewed this week, Kenitzer said.

It's unclear if the passenger will face any repercussions, but Kenitzer said nail polish is allowed on board, and he did not think small amounts of remover were banned, either.

PLANE EVACUATED

Deborah Mell, the sister-in-law of Gov. Blagojevich, and her girlfriend were passengers on the plane, but neither smelled the odor.

As they recall it, before landing, a flight attendant asked over the loudspeaker if anyone was using nail polish remover. Neither saw anyone come forward, the women said.

Shortly thereafter, after the pilot announced he was landing in Denver, he told passengers they could not use overhead seat lights because he didn't want to risk turning the electricity on.

On the ground in Denver, the passengers were evacuated from the plane, put on a bus and taken to the terminal. Some got on another plane to San Diego that left after midnight, but others spent the night in Denver.

United spokesman Brandon Borrman said he had not been told what caused the odor before being contacted by the Chicago Sun-Times. But he said because of the hazardous cargo, the pilot did the right thing.

"Frankly, even if someone had said they were [doing their nails] the pilot might have decided to divert anyway," he said. ". . . It was absolutely the appropriate action."

Mell agreed. "I'm glad that United did what they had to do to make sure we were safe," she said.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.