Southwest flight headed to Chicago makes emergency landing in Columbus

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago-bound Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio after a fire-indicator light came on.

Flight 424 from Baltimore to Midway Airport in Chicago landed safely around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Southwest Airlines officials said the captain declared an emergency after receiving an indication of smoke in the forward cargo hold and diverted to Columbus. Once on the ground, emergency slides were deployed and the 49 passengers and five crew members safely evacuated the plane.

Passengers were put on a new flight to Midway and landed in Chicago just after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Southwest said investigators determined there was smoke in the forward cargo hold and the plane is out of service for further inspection.