American Airlines: Light bulb caused smoke in cockpit
Long Island MacArthur Airport is shown in an undated image. Credit: Charles Eckert
A smoke condition in the cockpit that prompted an American Eagle crew to return its flight to Long Island MacArthur Airport Tuesday morning turned out to be caused by a burned-out lightbulb, according to the airline.
Flight 4868, a twin-engine turboprop de Havilland DH8 operated by Piedmont Airlines, landed safely at MacArthur at 6:50 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The flight had departed MacArthur at about 6:10 a.m.
The flight, carrying three crew members and 40 passengers, returned out of “an abundance of caution,” American Airlines said in a statement.
As a formality, the FAA said it would investigate the incident.
American issued a statement that read, in part, “it was a burned out light bulb, which caused the smoke in the cockpit. Out of an abundance of caution, the crew decided to return to Islip to have the issue checked by our maintenance team.”
The airlines said the issue was fixed — and said the flight had “redeparted” for Philadelphia — by about 9:15 a.m.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
