An American Eagle flight bound for Philadelphia turned back toward St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Saturday morning after an odor was reported inside the cabin shortly after takeoff, sending oxygen masks tumbling down and leaving passengers rattled before the plane landed safely. No injuries were reported, though it remained unclear exactly how many people were aboard.
Flight 5089, operated by PSA Airlines under the American Eagle brand, had been heading from St. Louis when the odor was detected, according to firstalert4.com. Fox 2 Now reports that passengers said the flight was bound for Philadelphia and that the pilot radioed Lambert's control tower around 8:43 a.m. to request an emergency landing. The plane touched down safely roughly 16 minutes later, around 8:59 a.m.
Masks Dropped Minutes Into the Flight
One passenger told firstalert4.com that about 15 minutes after takeoff, the oxygen masks fell and the plane soon began its emergency descent back to St. Louis. Another passenger described chaos building even before that point, recalling, “We heard just this really horrible noise coming from the back of the plane,” per the station's follow-up report on passenger accounts.
That same account described the cabin filling with haze as a flight attendant shouted emergency instructions to those on board. The combination of noise, haze and falling masks left some travelers fearing the worst in the moments before the plane leveled off and headed back toward the runway.
Evacuation and Aftermath at Lambert
After the plane landed, passengers deplaned and were led toward an exit gate, according to a report from Yahoo News. American Airlines said the aircraft was immediately pulled from service so its maintenance team could inspect it, though the airline has not said what caused the odor, haze or noise described by passengers.
No injuries were reported from the incident, and the airline said it accommodated all affected travelers on later flights that same Saturday, Fox 2 Now reports. The exact number of people who had been aboard the aircraft was not disclosed. KSDK also spoke with passengers who recalled the frightening moments as the flight turned back toward Lambert.
Not the First Lambert Turnaround
St. Louis travelers have seen a similar scenario play out before. In April 2024, a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Sacramento turned back to Lambert after the pilot reported an engine failure on the left side, according to KCRA. That Boeing 737-800, operating as Flight 5907, departed St. Louis at 2:52 p.m. Central and landed back at the airport just 37 minutes later, with Southwest saying passengers would continue on to Sacramento aboard a different aircraft.
The cause behind Saturday's odor, haze and oxygen-mask deployment on Flight 5089 has not been determined, and it remains unclear whether the two St. Louis-based diversions share any connection beyond the airport they returned to. American Airlines said the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection.
