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Passenger says Allegiant plane’s NC emergency landing was ‘a little scary’

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — An Allegiant Air flight bound from Ohio to Florida with 151 passengers and six crew made an emergency landing in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon, and there were no injuries, an airline spokeswoman said.

Allegiant spokeswoman Sonya Padgett told our partners at WLOS that Flight 2038 from Columbus, Ohio to Sarasota, Florida, made the landing at Asheville Regional Airport “out of an abundance of caution” after an indicator light came on about 30 minutes into the flight.

She said the emergency was declared as a standard procedure to ensure the flight received priority handling. The outlet says fire emergency crews stood by at Asheville Regional Airport. It did not elaborate on what caused the light to come on.

Padgett said the plane landed and then taxied to the gate under its own power before passengers exited normally.

"The captain came on and told us that we were losing oil pressure in one of the engines, so we were going to make a quick landing. We did come down really fast, but it was a good landing,” passenger Michelle Hamlin told WLOS.

"I did say a little prayer that we would land safely. It was a little scary, but nobody panicked,” passenger Wilma Mathews said.

A replacement aircraft was sent to continue the flight to Sarasota, she told WLOS.