NTSB: ‘Chemical Smell’ Prompted Frontier A321 Emergency Landing

Flight crew said the odor increased in intensity, later describing it as 'burning rubber and/or petroleum products, such as plastics.'

Ryan Ewing

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 10:25 AM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A Frontier A321 in Las Vegas [Credit: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson]

Key Takeaways:

A Frontier Airbus A321 made an emergency landing in Las Vegas after its crew detected an intensifying, unidentified chemical odor in both the cabin and flight deck.
During the emergency landing, witnesses reported tire explosions and fire around the tires upon touchdown, which airport fire crews attributed to a fire on the No. 2 engine.
The NTSB's preliminary report noted a fault with an avionics bay cooling fan; however, all 197 passengers and crew were uninjured, and the aircraft remains out of service.

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A Frontier Airbus A321 made an emergency landing on October 5 in Las Vegas after crewmembers detected an unidentified odor, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Monday.

The odor was initially noticed by the cabin crew, which described it as a “chemical smell” that was unidentifiable, the agency stated. Flight attendants reported the smell—which was only detected in the forward portion of the cabin—to the pilots before they noticed a similar odor.