Source: www.aeroinside.com

A Mesa Airlines Canadair CRJ-700 on behalf of United, registration N501MJ performing flight UA-6011 from Charlotte,NC to Washington Dulles,DC (USA) with 50 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Charlotte’s runway 36R when the crew reported smoke in the cabin, actually a bad odour/smoke in the cabin. The crew requested to return to Charlotte, subsequently advised the situation was improving, they expected to be able to vacate the runway. The aircraft landed safely on runway 36C about 10 minutes after departure.

A passenger reported they had problems at engine start, ground equipment was brought in, then engine start succeeded. The aircraft departed and had to turn back, the aircraft landed hard, thrust reversers were not used. Emergency services were chasing them down the runway. The passenger did not report any odour or smoke. Later the passenger added: “There was smoke and odour in the cabin on the initial attempt at engine start with equipment, but they vented the cabin by opening the main door at the gate. We did not notice any odours when we turned back for the landing, and the whole situation was odd because they did not provide any information of the situation once we landed.”

A replacement CRJ-700 registration N518LR reached Washington with a delay of 4 hours.