American Airlines: Mystery odor sickened LA-bound flight crew in Charlotte
American Airlines on Saturday said maintenance crews were investigating an odor that sickened crew members on a Los Angeles-bound flight from Charlotte before passengers boarded the plane Friday night.
The odor remained a mystery, as the airline said crews continued their inspection.
Six crew members and a gate agent at Charlotte Douglas International Airport were taken to the hospital Friday night after inhaling something, according to MEDIC.
The people were in a plane when they inhaled an “unknown odor,” causing six people to experience minor symptoms and a seventh to have serious symptoms, MEDIC told local press.
There was a slight odor of jet fuel, MEDIC said, and there were no readings for anything else.
In an email to The Charlotte Observer Saturday, the airline said crew members were aboard flight 2055. The flight was scheduled to depart just before 9 p.m. before being canceled, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks flights across the nation.
“Crew members received medical attention on site and were transported to a nearby hospital, where they were evaluated and released,” according to the AA statement. “The aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team.”
The odor-exposure incident happened during an FAA-issued ground stop at CLT prompted by storms.
Earlier Friday, American Airlines blamed other CLT cancellations and delays on a technology issue in its systems, WCNC reported.
By late Friday, at least 730 of all flights were delayed and 130 canceled at the airport, according to FlightAware.com.
At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, at least 361 flights were delayed and 88 canceled at CLT, although the cause of the disruptions wasn’t immediately known.
Earlier in the week, American Airlines dealt with another dramatic problem with a connection to the Charlotte airport.
An American Airlines flight leaving Las Vegas for Charlotte had to make an emergency landing Wednesday morning soon after departure because of a smoking engine, Observer news partner WSOC reported.
This story was originally published June 28, 2025 at 10:07 AM.