American Airlines flight evacuated due to man passing gas? Maybe not

An American Airlines flight had landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport when passengers were evacuated due to nausea and headaches.

According to an airport official at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, an American Airlines flight had to be evacuated after a man passed gas so violently it caused people to suffer headaches and nausea. However, the airline does acknowledge there was a bad odor, but says it wasn’t a passenger’s gas.

Rumors spread worldwide of American Airlines 'gassy' evacuation

These days there are many horror stories in the media about various airlines, including American Airlines. News of the latest incident soon went viral worldwide due to its almost humorous (and very human) “gassy” nature. It reportedly happened on July 16 at around 4 p.m. when the passenger on the plane allegedly “passed gas” so violently the smell was overpowering, causing fellow passengers to become ill. The RDU official reportedly said the smell was so bad, fellow passengers became nauseous and developed headaches, leading to them being rushed off the plane. While the American Airlines flight in question was not identified, it was landing at Raleigh-Durham airport to avoid being diverted.

American Airlines: A foul odor causing fliers to experience headaches and nausea wasn't "passed gas." https://t.co/HCOYI0rnhN

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 17, 2017

Officials at the airport later said in a statement that there had been a “medical issue” on the American Airlines flight after passengers suffered eye irritations and headaches, and that a passenger had been treated by Wake County Emergency Medical Services. The International Business Times reported that a lack of more information left many questions unanswered, as it is unsure whether the passenger boarded the plane in an unwell condition or became “gassy” during the flight.

Meanwhile, and as noted by the Charlotte Observer, American Airlines issued a statement to say one of their planes at the Raleigh-Durham airport was taken out of service over a bad odor, but the spokesperson said it was definitely not due to “passed gas.”  Their statement said an American Airlines plane traveling from Charlotte to the Raleigh-Durham airport had landed at 2:19 p.m. and was out of service over a mechanical issue, along with a bad odor in the cabin. The statement went on to stress that this odor was not caused by “passed gas” as had been widely reported in the media. 

CBS North Carolina later learned that it was crew members who complained about the odor and that this was after the passengers had left the plane. However this, along with the airline’s statement, went contrary to the earlier alleged statement by the airport official, so we’ll probably never know for sure.