U.S.-bound plane makes emergency landing at Ben Gurion

Ben-Gurion Airport

A plane bound for the United States made an emergency landing at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport after smoke was detected in the rear of the plane.

The Continental Airlines Boeing 777 had taken off from Ben Gurion at noon, but it returned a half-hour later after pilots told air traffic control that there was smoke in the plane’s rear kitchen.

Some 280 passengers were on the flight bound for Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Forty-five ambulances met the airplane on the runway but were not needed.

The flight returned to the air about three hours following a thorough inspection, according to The Aviation Herald. The smoke is believed to have come from an oven in the aft galley. It was originally reported that the smoke was coming from the baggage compartment.