Five Tons of Minced Onions To Blame

There may not be enough deodorizer in all of Boston to deal with this. A quick investigation into last week's diversion of an Alitalia cargo flight bound for Miami uncovered the reason for noxious fumes that led to the emergency landing: 10,000 pounds of minced onions.

As ANN reported, the Alitalia MD-11 was inbound from Milan when the aircraft's four-person flight crew reported difficulties breathing. The plane's pilots donned oxygen masks, and made an uneventful landing at Boston's Logan International Airport.

The crew was taken to a local hospital for signs of exposure to hazardous materials. Initial reports pointed to possible contamination from noxious chemicals also being transported onboard the plane.

Hazmat teams met the aircraft at Logan, but they soon determined the source of the foul fumes wasn't malicious. “We narrowed it down to the 10,000 pounds of onions in the cargo hold,” FAA spokesman Jim Peters told The Boston Herald.

On Saturday, the flight crew relocated the MD-11 to New York. And after a three-day holdover in Boston, the suspect onions are once again enroute to Miami... this time, in a truck.

FMI: www.alitalia.com