SWISS flight LX9 declares emergency while isolated over Atlantic, lands on remote island

A SWISS International Air Lines Flight LX9 was diverted after it declared emergency while isolated over open sea in the Atlantic.

The transatlantic flight, operated by Boeing 777-300ER, took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Monday for an eight-hour-45-minute flight to Zurich Airport in Switzerland.

However, after a four-and-a-half hours into the flight while the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude, the crew transmitted a squawk code 7700 to declare a general onboard emergency.

The flight tracking data of LX9 shows it was flying over the Atlantic when the emergency was declared and the plane took a right turn, diverting from its north Atlantic track.

It landed safely on Runway 33 at Lajes Air Base (TEC), a joint civilian-military operated facility which acts as a primary diversion airport for transatlantic wide body operations, on the island of Terceira on Tuesday morning after about six hours in the air.

SWISS Air Lines said the crew detected an unidentified pungent odor in the Economy Class cabin, prompting the precautionary diversion. 

The carrier added, “Approximately five passengers and one crew member underwent precautionary medical examinations after landing, having briefly experienced symptoms such as irritated eyes, nausea, or headaches.”

It further updated that due to the deployment of a replacement aircraft, today's (Tuesday) flight LX8 from Zurich to Chicago, as well as the subsequent return flight from Chicago to Zurich scheduled on the same aircraft, have been cancelled

Ground crew is examining the plane; however, no details regarding the emergency have been revealed yet. The aircraft will resume its journey to Zurich, pending clearance, on Tuesday afternoon.