Report of smoke in cargo hold of plane full of soldiers that landed at O'Hare found to be false alarm
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A report of smoke in a cargo hold that prompted a plane full of soldiers to make an emergency landing at O'Hare International Airport this week turned out to be a false alarm.
A total of 314 U.S. military personnel were on board the Atlas Air flight from Topeka, Kansas to Poland. We are told the soldiers were part of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team.
There were reports that smoke was spotted in the cargo hold of the 747.
But on Tuesday, Atlas Air reported, "Upon further investigation, our team has confirmed that this was a false warning, and the aircraft will return to service."
The Fort Riley base troops recently left the base and were heading to Europe. It is not clear what their exact mission was - but we know once the smoke was spotted in the cargo, the 314 soldiers landed in Chicago and evacuated the plane.