Photo of a 737-500 after take-off...
STOP PRESS 18 Feb 06
Suspected fluid leak aborts Alaska flight
By The Associated Press
An Alaska Airlines jet en route to Chicago returned to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport about a half hour after takeoff Friday because of a suspected fluid leak, a spokeswoman said.
Concerns about Flight 22, a Boeing 737-700, were raised by personnel on another aircraft who reported seeing a possible leak, airline spokeswoman Amanda Tobin said.
The plane was inspected on its return and "there was no indication of a fuel leak," Tobin said. Returning to Sea-Tac "was the right thing to do as a precautionary measure," she said. "In the end, it was merely precautionary."
What witnesses might have seen was possibly a small amount of fuel coming out of the vent drain at the end of the plane's wing, which is designed to allow small amounts of excess fuel to exit the aircraft, she said.
The flight had departed at 1:44 p.m. and returned to Seattle about 2:15 p.m., she said. The 124 passengers and five crew members were loaded onto another jet.