Trouble forces Allegiant flight’s return to Punta Gorda Airport

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The flight pattern of
The flight pattern of Allegiant Flight 1690.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – A mechanical issue forced an Allegiant Air flight headed for Indianapolis to return to Punta Gorda Airport 46 minutes after takeoff Friday morning.

Flight 1690 was carrying 167 passengers and landed safely shortly before 8:30 a.m. Flight records show it circled before landing, and passenger Ed Bischoff said the captain told the cabin he had to burn off fuel.

The plane had an issue with the flaps on its wings, the captain said, according to Bischoff.

“There was a loud rumbling and something felt like it wasn’t going to come down all the way,” Melissa Iannuzzi said. “I mean, I knew we were going to be OK, but it was a really shaky landing. It was a little off.”

Allegiant gave passengers a $50 credit and put them on another plane to Indianapolis, but the flight delay totaled five hours.

It’s the latest in a series of mishaps for the discount air carrier. Mechanical problems forced the grounding of 77 flights in 2015, according to a Tampa Bay Times investigation.

 

Still, Punta Gorda Airport officials expressed support for Allegiant, one of just two commercial carriers that fly in and out of there. The other, Frontier Airlines, began service to Punta Gorda just last month.

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