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Passenger Jet Declares Scary Emergency in Severe Thunderstorms

LONG WAY ROUND

The grim weather left the aircraft pushing its fuel reserves to the brink.

An American Eagle flight lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as the Trump administration warns of impending cuts to commercial airline operations more than a month into the continuing U.S. government shutdown in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 7, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Nathan Howard/Reuters

A spate of powerful thunderstorms forced an American Airlines plane to circle two airports until it began running dangerously low on fuel. The American Eagle Embraer E175 was headed for Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, from Dallas-Fort Worth International in Texas when grim weather set in, and it was diverted to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, also in Kentucky. The storms followed the six-year-old plane, however, and forced it to miss two approaches to Louisville on two separate runways. By the time it finally landed at Evansville Regional, an altogether different airport in Indiana, the crew had warned ground control that they only had around a half hour of flying left in the tank. The three-pass flyaround was then followed by a further final leg to Louisville after refueling and waiting out the weather—bringing the presumably rather disoriented passengers to their originally intended destination after an overall delay of more than three hours.

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