A Spirit Airlines flight to Minnesota was forced to turn around and return to the gate at McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, on Wednesday, after an unknown odor filled the cabin of the plane.

The odor was detected shortly before 9 a.m. PDT (12:00 p.m. EDT) as Spirit Flight 170, carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members, was preparing for takeoff. Clark County firefighters responded to the scene and the passengers were evacuated from the plane.

Fifteen people, including passengers and crew members who reported feeling sick, were treated by paramedics at the scene. The airport spokeswoman Christine Crews said eight people – one passenger, one first responder and six airline crew members – were sent to local hospitals for further treatment. Airline spokesman Derek Dombrowski said the health issues were not related to the smell on the flight, CBS News reported.

In a statement released by the airline, the company said three passengers from the plane were hospitalized, contradicting the airport spokesperson’s statement, and that the odor in the cabin smelled like “oil.”

“Wednesday shortly after closing the boarding door on Spirit flight 170 with intended service from Las Vegas to Minneapolis, a smell resembling oil presented onboard,” the statement read. "The door was immediately opened and our guests and crew exited the aircraft. EMS [Emergency Medical Services] assessed guests at the gate, and three guests elected to be transported to the hospital as a precaution and have since been released. Safety is our top priority, and we apologize for the inconvenience as our maintenance team investigates.”

The statement added that the company was working to “accommodate our guests on other flights” and that the passengers were provided full refunds, meal and future travel vouchers by the company to compensate for the inconvenience caused.

Michael Hardin, a passenger who was present on the flight at the time of the incident, told Fox5 that the odor caused quite a bit of panic inside the aircraft. "One lady actually just sprinted to the back of the plane and were like oh this is not good,” he said, adding they found out later on that she “was just throwing up everywhere.”

Spirit Airlines
A Spirit Airlines employee walks under a plane on the tarmac at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport after striking pilots agreed June 16 to a new contract in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 17, 2010. Getty Images/ Joe Raedle

He said the bad smell was like that of “wet socks.” “It smelled like someone was on our plane the night before and they forgot to take a shower and they took their shoes off. So like wet socks it smelled really, really bad,” he said.

According to Fox News, the incident marked the third time in three weeks when bad odor had disrupted a Spirit Airlines flight. A flight from Dallas to Tampa, Florida, was diverted to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Florida after “reports of an odor" on May 5. Although, a Spirit spokesperson later clarified the reports were not correct and that the real reason for diversion was a sick passenger onboard.

Two days before that, a Spirit flight from Los Angeles to Denver reported a strange smell in the cabin, forcing the aircraft to turn around before takeoff. As a result of the smell, a passenger was transferred to the hospital. Similarly, on April 24, seven people were treated at local hospitals after a flight from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was forced to turn back to the gate due to an “unknown odor.”

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