Source: www.kcrg.com

An Allegiant Airlines flight from the Eastern Iowa Airport to Mesa/Phoenix had to turn around and come back to Cedar Rapids after a report of smoke in the cockpit, according to an airport spokesperson. The plane landed safely and all on board are safe, according to the spokesperson. Authorities have not yet said what caused the problem in the cockpit.

Allegiant released the following statement:

Flight 101 from Cedar Rapids, IA to Phoenix returned to Cedar Rapids after a mechanical issue arose after takeoff. The crew declared an emergency out of an abundance of caution and the plane landed normally. The aircraft was met by local fire and rescue (as is procedure for all emergency landings) and they found nothing unusual. The aircraft taxied to the gate upon landing and passengers deplaned through the jet bridge.There were 157 passengers on board. We are sending another aircraft to Cedar Rapids to get the passengers to Phoenix today.

In April, a report blasted Allegiant for the number of mechanical problems it had between 2016 and 2017. The “60 Minutes” report said Allegiant had three times as many in-flight mechanical problems as six competing airlines.The report said Allegiant flights had an alarming number of aborted take-offs, plus emergency and unscheduled landings.