In the last few moments, a JetBlue flight from Santiago, Dominican Republic, to Boston declared an emergency moments after departure.
B61924, which is the scheduled flight between Santiago & Boston, departed at 1339 local time today.
The flight was operated by N996JL, an Airbus A321ceo that has been in the carrier’s fleet since July 2018, as per data from Planespotters.net.
What Is The Cause of the Emergency Onboard The JetBlue Flight Bound to Boston?
At this stage, we are unsure into why the aircraft declared an emergency and opted to return to Santiago and not continue onward to Boston.
ADS-B data highlights that the aircraft turned back around 30 minutes after departure and proceeded to make a sharp descent on its return.
The jet did Squawk 7700, meaning that whatever the cause of the emergency, it was serious enough to cause a return back to Santiago, Dominican Republic.
What know already is that the flight departed over three and a half hours late and was originally scheduled to arrive at 1405 Boston time.
At this stage, it is unclear when the aircraft will be heading back to the U.S. destination, as it is overly dependent on the cause of the emergency at this time.
All eyes will be on this flight, as in due time, the cause of the emergency will be revealed.
AviationSource will approach JetBlue for a comment on the emergency, as well as for the decision behind returning to Santiago.
This is a developing story.
UPDATE #1 @ 1928 UK time – JetBlue flight B16924 is on final approach into Santiago.
UPDATE #2 @ 1929 UK time – JetBlue flight B16924, operating a flight between Santiago and Boston, has now successfully returned back to Santiago after declaring an emergency a few moments ago.
Update
It has subsequently been reported by social media account Flight Emergency that JetBlue flight B16924 had departed with an air conditioning problem. Subsequently, several passengers reportedly passed out on board, necessitating the declaration of a medical emergency.
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