Newsday

Jet Forced To Return to Houston

HOUSTON (AP) -- A Tokyo-bound Continental Airlines flight returned to Houston on Thursday after 17 crew members were exposed to fumes in the aircraft's rear galley, the carrier said.

The 14 flight attendants and three first officers were taken to two northeast Houston hospitals as a precaution, airline spokeswoman Julie Gardner said. None was thought to be injured.

No passengers were exposed to the fumes, which were thought to have come from a microwave oven containing excess cleaning fluid, Gardner said.

The Boeing 777 was about an hour into its flight when it returned to Bush Intercontinental Airport.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), August 11, 2000