Frontier Airlines flight headed to Orlando evacuated due to strong odor, 1 hurt

ORLANDO, Fla. - At least one person is hurt, others are traumatized, and hundreds are looking for a new way home after a situation unfolded onboard a Frontier Airlines flight headed to Orlando. 

Over 200 passengers onboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Charlotte, NC, to Orlando had to evacuate their Airbus A321neo.

It was like something out of a movie. The title could be something like "Nightmare on a Red Eye."

"It’s scary," Brandon Reid told FOX 35.

Reid says his flight from Charlotte to Orlando on Wednesday night was slightly delayed. He says that was no big deal; they boarded about an hour late. Once he sat down, he said the captain alerted everyone there was a mechanical issue, and it might take a couple extra minutes for the plane to take off.

Again, no problem. However, Reid says, "We just smell something."

A few minutes later, the captain came over the intercom, telling everyone to evacuate.

Reid says people pushed around in a panic.

"Everybody was trying to get out."

Frontier told FOX 35, "A strong odor was detected throughout the aircraft." 

The company didn’t say what that smell was but added, "Initial reports indicate that no visible smoke or fire was observed."

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"I don't know if there was fire, but there was definitely smoke there," disagreed Reid.

The passengers were told to evacuate using slides and a jet bridge.

Reid says people went down in a panic, with some missing and skidding off the slide. He says the timing of the descent also caused problems.

"People are going, and then another person going, and they're hitting each other and then going down," he said. "So it was making it way worse."

Frontier told FOX 35 that one passenger was hurt coming down the slide.

Shem Malmquist, a Visiting Instructor at Florida Tech’s College of Aeronautics, says he’s surprised there weren’t even more people badly hurt.

"It’s a challenge not to injure yourself going down one of those slides," said Malmquist. "You’re going down fast. They can tend to create some risk."

So, if the captain knows the slides are dangerous, why not have everyone leave the same way they came in?

"Whatever was going on in terms of those fumes must have been serious enough that the captain felt that it was absolutely necessary to make that happen as soon as possible," Malmquist explained.

Malmquist says one big problem in evacuations is people trying to grab their bags, slowing the de-planing process.

"It can absolutely result in people dying," he said. "I don't know how to get through to people that they shouldn't do it, but it is a huge problem."

Reid confirmed that many people tried to grab their bags, which he says slowed things down.

But he says he’s still stuck on the "What ifs" of the whole thing.

"What if we didn't know about that stuff until we had to go? Then what?" he wondered. "What if that was their first flight? Like, they're never going to want to play again. And I wouldn't blame them."

Frontier declined to interview but did say they’re still investigating the incident. The airline also said it was working to get everyone on the evacuated flight to a different plane and back home.

Reid says that was taking too long, so he decided just to rent a car and drive instead.

Frontier didn’t answer FOX 35’s inquiry about the plan for passengers who chose a different mode of transportation and still need to get their checked bags.