Delta flight from Fort Lauderdale to NYC forced to land in Charleston

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A Delta flight headed to LaGuardia Airport had to make an emergency landing in Charleston Thursday.

With alarms blaring and a thick haze of smoke in the cabin, a routine flight up the coast quickly became downright terrifying.

"I was so scared. I started to scream, dropping tears," said Eileen Ganga, a passenger

Delta's flight 2028 was winging its way from Fort Lauderdale to LaGuardia Airport when the cabin filled up with smoke fast.

"I noticed a mist, then I realize it was smoke, I could smell the smoke. Then I looked back and it was dark," said Jack Urbont, a passenger.

"There was smoke, dark, and have to take something, and like this, eyes burning," Ganga said.

"People were coughing, some people were crying," Urbont said.

"Really couldn't see. But they told everyone to put their heads in their laps because the air is clearer down there," said Karen Hoser, a passenger.

In a statement, really an understatement, Delta blamed what it called "A performance issue with one of the md-88 two engines."

The pilots provided a slightly better explanation for passengers, as they diverted to Charleston.

"One of the engines got oil, I guess, in the engine, so they had to turn it off so we landed with just one engine," said Fabio Dias, a passenger.

Delta fed them pizza as it ferry a replacement plane from its headquarters in Atlanta.

All 89 passengers finally landed at LaGuardia Thursday evening, four hours late but with quite a story to tell.

A passenger tweeted out a picture of smoke in the cabin of the MD 88.

(Video courtesy Fabio Dias)

"They were amazing, the staff were absolutely amazing," Hoser said.

"I'll tell you something, I'm not religious. But I clenched my fists and I said, 'OK, God I'm with you now get us down please! I promise to be a good boy!'" Urbont said.