WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Air traffic control audio shares new details about the reason a JetBlue flight headed to Palm Beach International Airport made an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Newark on Wednesday night.
The audio, WPTV obtained from LIVEATC.net, shows the plane's pilots believed a "loud bang" was due to an engine stalling because it seemed fine afterwards. The pilot also said there was smoke in the cockpit and the plane’s cabin.
WATCH BELOW: Cockpit smoke, engine 'loud bang' prompted JetBlue Palm Beach flight emergency landing
"We got smoke in the back and momentarily in the cockpit as well," the pilot said on the audio. "We had an engine one, pretty loud bang, but it seems to be working okay now. Looks like an engine stall."
The FAA said Wednesday it would investigate the incident, which closed Newark Liberty International Airport for a few hours. As of Thursday evening, the FAA hasn't released its preliminary report, which is normally published the following business day. A spokesperson for JetBlue said the plane returned to Newark due to an engine issue and smoke inside the cabin.
Lisa Taylor, who was on the flight to visit a newborn baby in her family, said it was "terrifying" when smoke started to fill the cabin. She said the flight attendants started screaming "fire" with fire extinguishers in hand. Then Taylor said she heard a big bang and the plane started to shake.
"Once that started happening, I was freaking out," she said. "I was texting my fiance, my mom and my sister, just saying like, 'There's a fire on board. We're having an emergency landing.' It was really terrifying."
Taylor said she thought she was going to die, calling the experience "really scary," but complimented the pilot for his demeanor while talking to passengers about the situation. She said she was frustrated by the way the airline handled the incident, which included standing on the tarmac for 45 minutes in the cold rain before being put on buses without any information.
"There were little to zero announcements made," Taylor said. "It was very frustrating."
Carley Israel was also on the flight. She said she sat on the window seat right by the wing where she saw flames coming from the plane's engine.
"Everybody was praying, and it was so scary," Israel said. "And once it started to fill up with smoke and like you could smell it. … it felt like, Oh my God, the plane is going to go up in flames, and we're at 10,000 feet."
The plane landed safely back at Newark, and no injuries were reported after JetBlue said customers and crew members were evacuated using the aircraft slides.
Emails WPTV obtained show the airline originally offered people a $12 credit for food at the airport, then issued another email offering a full refund, a $150 travel credit and offered to pay for other expenses related to the emergency landing.
Israel said she was unable to use the vouchers after flying to Fort Lauderdale International Airport on a different flight.
"Our team worked to support our customers in real-time to make new travel arrangements, offer hotel accommodations, provide vouchers for food and transportation, and provide additional compensation," said a JetBlue spokesperson. "We're sorry to hear that some customers may not have been able to use vouchers provided. We’ve sent customers instructions on how to submit covered expenses for reimbursement and we will review our voucher system for further improvements."
