Dec. 17--A suspicious substance on a plane that flew into Midway Airport from Mexico triggered a hazardous materials response Wednesday evening from the Chicago Fire Department, officials said.
Emergency crews were called to the scene a little after 5 p.m. and a hazardous materials response was declared under control by about 5:45 p.m., officials said. The Fire Department found no threat in the material, it was cleaned up by the department's hazmat team and the plane was turned back over to the airline, according to the Fire Department's news office.
Southwest Airlines Flight 217 flew in from Cancun, Mexico, on Wednesday afternoon and fire officials, police and the Transportation Security Administration were investigating, said Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride. No airport operations were disrupted by the incident, she said.
According to Southwest Airlines officials, as part of its pre-flight inspection the crew of flight 539 which was using the same plane headed to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport discovered "an unusual substance near the floor vents," said Emily Samuels, a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman.
According to Samuels, officials inspected the aircraft and deemed the substance safe. Passengers on flight 539 were put on a different plane, said Samuels.
