SANTA ANA, Calif. — John Wayne Airport in Orange County was on Hazmat alert for nearly three hours Friday, as Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) crews worked to determine what unknown substance was found on an American Airlines plane.
At least three people, all airline employees, were "within the area of the potential leak" at the time the liquid was found, but were ultimately not affected by what eventually was determined to be formaldehyde, according to airport spokesperson Marisa Unvert.
Working with aiport staff, OCFA said it was able to get all American Airlines staffers off the plane by around 2 p.m. while they continued to study the substance.
The hazmat situation began around 12:25 p.m. Friday, when OCFA received "reports of a substance leaking within the cargo compartment of an American Airlines plane."
Ultimately, the substance was determined to be "formaldehyde for an undisclosed animal part used for lab experiments that was surrounded with ice packs," Unvert told City News Service. The material was determined to be non-hazardous.
"Our Hazmat team identified the substance as non hazardous animal tissue that was being transported for dissection in a lab," OCFA said in a tweet. "Thank you to our partners at John Wayne Airport for the great coordinated effort on this incident."
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