'Unusual Odor' Forces Airliner to Make Emergency Landing

— -- An American Airlines flight from Dallas made an emergency landing 45 minutes after takeoff tonight when the pilots smelled an "unusual odor" in the cockpit, the airline said.

The regional jet, operated by Irving, Texas-based Envoy, was en route from Dallas-Fort Worth to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when it diverted to Tulsa.

Flight 3235 landed safely at Tulsa International Airport and the 63 passengers and a crew of four were bused to the terminal.

"The passengers were allowed to get off the airplane, where airport responders were able then to make sure everybody was OK and then provide them transportation to the terminal building," Tulsa International Airport spokeswoman Alexis Higgins said.

Gibril Mansaray, who was onboard, described trying not to panic as the plane landed.

"I tried to logic the fear out of myself," Mansaray said. "I tried to say like, you know the odds of me dying in a plane crash, are very minute, so let me just try to keep myself together and then I was still thinking, I don't want to die in a plane crash."

Another passenger, Tim Slavin, said the situation was handled very well by the crew onboard the plane.

"Everyone was calm and cool," he said. "There was no panicking at all. The flight attendants were phenomenal."

The airplane was taken out of service while mechanics examined the jet.

The airline said it is working on getting the passengers to their original destination.