An American Airlines flight from Charlotte to Kansas City has declared an emergency whilst enroute and is currently negotiating a return to Charlotte.
American Airlines AA1616 Charlotte – Kansas City
American Airlines flight AA1616, a Boeing 737-800 operating the scheduled service from Charlotte (CLT) to Kansas City (MCI) has declared a general emergency, squawking code 7700 whilst approaching Kentucky airspace.
The flight is currently executing a return to Charlotte, descending through 8,000 feet on approach.
The nature of the emergency is not yet known. Flight AA1616 declared an emergency with transponder code 7700 at 16,000 feet; having climbed on its outbound track to flight level FL310 (31,000 feet) before descending.
The flight is currently setting up on finals for RWY36 Charlotte/Douglas Airport (CLT). Weather for its return is visual conditions (VFR) with light winds and visibility greater than 10 miles.
UPDATE 14:10 UTC
With the flight now back on the ground; flight data for AA1616 shows the aircraft made an on-time departure for Charlotte earlier today at 09:16 EDT.
The flight then climbed to a cruising altitude of 31,000 feet before initiating a descent. An unconfirmed report via social media suggest that the flight may have experienced smoke in the cabin due to an engine compressor stall, however this has not yet been verified.
The aircraft in question is a Boeing 727-800, registered N815NN; a 13-year old aircraft belonging to the carrier American Airlines.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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