BENTONVILLE (KFSM) - An aircraft carrying more than 50 passengers was diverted to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport after engine trouble on Monday (July 6), according to airport officials.
XNA Airport Director Kelly Johnson said Envoy Air flight 3388 was traveling from Peoria, Ill. to Dallas when the engine trouble occurred.
"To err on the side of caution is exactly what you want your pilot and crew to do and that's what they did," she said. "They went ahead and landed here at XNA and got the people off the aircraft."
XNA has an Envoy Air maintenance base, which Johnson said could've played a factor in why the plane landed at the airport.
"They fly in with passengers and are then taxied over to the maintenance hanger," she said. "They do A & B checks on the aircraft, but they also repair anything that they find wrong."
AnnaLee Hulm was one of the 53 passengers on board. She said there wasn't much panic on the plane.
"All of a sudden the intercom came on saying that they were having engine trouble," she said. "When you hear those words at first, the first thing that goes through your mind is worst case scenario."
Flight records show the aircraft is an Embraer ERJ-145 twin-jet.
Envoy Air is owned by American Airlines and operates more than 220 planes on approximately 1,300 daily flights, according to the company's website.