Smoke in the cabin

Airbus forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off in Boston

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

Passengers and crew of a Cathay Pacific aircraft experienced anxious minutes on Monday shortly after take-off in Boston: the cabin of the Airbus A350 suddenly filled with smoke - the jet had to turn back and make an emergency landing.

The aircraft, which had taken off from Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts, had been en route to Hong Kong for just 30 minutes when dense smoke began to fill the cockpit and cabin area shortly after midnight (see video above).

The Airbus, which had reached an altitude of 5,000 feet (1.5 kilometers) at that point, turned back to Boston, flew a holding pattern to dump fuel, and made an emergency landing at 3:31 a.m. local time. There were no injuries and the cause of the smoke is under investigation, according to the US authorities.

Dense smoke filled the cockpit and cabin area of the Airbus A350.(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

The "precautionary return flight" was carried out "in accordance with standard procedures", Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific announced. "Every decision we make is for safety. We sincerely apologize to the affected customers for the inconvenience," the airline said in a statement

Passengers were rescheduled for a later long-haul flight to return to the former British crown colony, which was acquired by Queen Victoria in 1842 but has slipped back into authoritarianism since being handed back to China.