Delta Air 757 jet makes emergency landing in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Alabama – An Atlanta-bound Delta Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Alabama on Sunday after the pilots smelled smoke in the cockpit.

The flight, which originated in Cancun, Mexico, was supposed to land in Atlanta about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, but was rerouted to Birmingham Regional Airport about 2 p.m.

The plane, Delta flight 534, was carrying 200 people – 184 passengers and six crew members – when it was forced to make the emergency landing.

Delta officials told WSFA.com that the pilots began to smell a smokey odor coming from a failed fluorescent lightbulb on the plane.

As a precaution, the flight was rerouted to Birmingham.

No injuries have been reported.

Because Montgomery is not an International airport, it doesn’t normally accept international flights and doesn’t have a secure customs area for international travelers. However, airport officials have moved the travelers to a secure location as they wait for another plane to bring them to Atlanta.

Just last month, another Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the flight crew noticed an ‘engine-related problem’ with the plane.

That flight – which took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport en-route to Palm Beach, Florida – was diverted to New York’s JFK International Airport after the pilot noticed the unspecified problem.

No injuries were reported as a result of that emergency landing, either.