Kerry Ezard, Washington DC

An American Eagle Airlines Embraer ERJ-145 was forced to make an emergency landing at Raleigh/Durham airport in North Carolina after the captain detected an oil smell throughout the cockpit and cabin.

American Eagle flight 650 departed Raleigh/Durham at 11:00 on March 20 en route to New York Newark, says the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its preliminary report.

However, shortly after takeoff the captain detected "a foul oil smell spreading throughout the cockpit and cabin" and declared an emergency with air traffic control (ATC). The flight was subsequently cleared by ATC to make an emergency landing on Raleigh/Durham's runway 23R.

The ERJ-135, registered as N733KR, landed safely at 11:48 and an emergency evacuation was carried out. During the evacuation, one of the 28 passengers on board suffered a serious injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

The aircraft was moved to a local facility for examination. The cause of the incident has yet to be determined.

The Rolls-Royce AE3007A3-powered aircraft began service on December 1 2001. According to Avsoft's ACAS database, the American Eagle-owned aircraft had previously been involved in one minor incident: In September 2003 it struck a refuse truck while begin pushed back from the ramp at New York LaGuardia.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news