Chemical smell forces Swiss flight to land in Azores

According to SRF, a Swiss flight from Chicago to Zurich issued a distress call over the Atlantic on Tuesday and made an unscheduled landing on Terceira in the Azores because of a chemical smell on board.

The Boeing 777 was carrying 222 passengers and 16 crew members. Flight LX9 had been due to land in Zurich shortly before 11 a.m., but landed on Terceira at about 8:30 a.m. after the crew declared an emergency.

Swiss Chief Operating Officer Oliver Buchhofer said the smell was the reason for the diversion. He initially gave no further information about its cause.

Swiss plans to bring the passengers back to Switzerland on Tuesday. The airline currently expects to send an aircraft to the Azores in the afternoon to collect them, with Buchhofer saying he hoped they would return that evening.