Cathay Pacific flight makes emergency landing in Alaska's Aleutians

(Reuters) - A Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles with nearly 300 people on board diverted to a remote U.S. military airport in Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Wednesday due to smoke in the aircraft, airline officials said.

All 276 passengers and 18 crew members aboard flight CX884, a Boeing Co 777-300ER, are safe, airline representative Tracey Kwong said in an email.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email the emergency landing went without incident before dawn at Eareckson Air Station in Shemya, Alaska.

Remote and often frigid, Shemya is one of the westernmost islands in the Aleutians, more than 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage.

The aircraft was inspected and deemed safe to fly again, and the passengers were taken to Anchorage, Jennifer Pearson, a spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific, said in an email.

Cathay Pacific dispatched another aircraft from Hong Kong to pick up the passengers in Anchorage and fly them to Los Angeles, airline officials said.

A representative for Boeing declined to comment, referring questions on the incident to the airline.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Andrew Hay and Mohammad Zargham)