A plane flying from Dallas to LAX was grounded yesterday shortly after takeoff. No one was hurt and the incident might have passed by without any media attention whatsoever, except it turned out that Ashley Olsen happened to be on this particular flight.

Initial reports by TMZ and Perez Hilton started the media frenzy, mentioning an engine fire and smoke filling the plane’s cockpit. Each report modified the event a bit, until it was almost impossible to find the real story. A representative of American Airlines later cleared the air, explaining that the only sign of any malfunction had been “an electrical smell in the cockpit”. The plane was grounded in a routine maneuver and the passengers were only mildly inconvenienced by the two hour delay, after being safely moved to a brand new Boeing 767.

Airline Biz Blog writer Terry Maxon wrote about the incident: “That’s a not uncommon reason why flights are grounded or make emergency landings, and usually nothing comes of it. The mechanics come on board and find the cause, or they don’t find any problem and return the airplane to regular service. ” Despite the media circus, Ashley Olsen hasn’t actually commented on the event.

Looks like in this case, there really was a lot of smoke without a fire, pun intended.