Smoke-Filled Cabin Forces LAX-Bound Plane To Make Emergency Landing

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Delta Air Lines plane headed to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing when the cabin began filling with smoke and a crew member noticed engine trouble, the airline said Wednesday.

Delta Flight 2846 took off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Tuesday and was headed to Los Angeles International Airport when it was forced to land in New Mexico. Video posted to social media showed a smoky cabin as the flight crew sought to calm passengers.

“Everything was normal and then suddenly there was smoke in the cabin,” Mason Weiner, a passenger on the flight, told NBC News on Tuesday. "Someone started yelling there was a fire, but the flight attendants (in a very professional way) told everyone to chill, it wasn't a fire, and keep seated."

Crew members observed performance issues with one of the plane's two engines. The plane made an emergency landing at Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico, a spokesman for Delta told NBC News.

Weiner said Delta ordered Chick-fil-A for everyone on the plane while they waited for a new plane to complete the trip to LAX.

Delta issued a statement following the emergency landing, noting that nothing is more important than the safety of customers and crew. “That’s why our flight crew followed procedures to safely divert today’s flight 2846 to Albuquerque," an airline spokesperson said in a written release.

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City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.