CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — SkyWest flight 4644 was set to leave West Virginia International Yeager Airport in Charleston with a full house on board. But right off the bat, there were some issues in getting up in the sky.

WCHS TV spoke with a passenger who wished to stay anonymous in detailing her experience.

"There was a weight distribution issue. So, they asked the volunteer to get off the plane,” she explained. “Then there was a girl who volunteered to get off the plane and then that didn't fix the weight issue, so they asked that seven bags be put down to the bottom from the overhead to the bottom of the plane.”

She said that once they were able to take off an hour later, it seemed that it would be smooth sailing ahead to Chicago. That's until she smelled something suspicious.

"I smelled something and it's like a burning smell. And when I smelled that my body kind of went into shock my body was like, ‘Oh this isn't good.’ And so everyone was just kind of looking around and the guy beside me, I asked him, ‘Did you smell bad?’ He's like, ‘Yeah, I smell that,’” she said.

Suddenly, the smoke alarms in the plane went off, and the passenger said a flight attendant on board started to panic with them.

“She seemed to be panicking, so I knew it wasn’t good,” the passenger said. “The way she was acting, it was like, ‘Okay. This is a real-life situation.’”

The plane was forced to land at the Dayton International Airport in Ohio, and oxygen masks were dropped from above. The passenger we spoke with said she saw others start to pray.

“The guy beside me is praying and he’s holding my hand and we’re just hopeful that we’re gonna land,” she said. “Then we did land and they put the brakes, and then when we landed they just immediately stopped the plane and just opened the doors and we all ran out into the grass.”

SkyWest released a statement to Eyewitness News that said:

“SkyWest Flight 4644, operating as United Express from Charleston, West Virginia to Chicago, diverted to Dayton, Ohio last night due to a mechanical indication. The flight landed safely and customers have since resumed their travels to Chicago on another aircraft. We apologize for any inconvenience."

The passenger decided not to travel on another aircraft to her destination and is unsure how soon she’ll fly again.

“I’m not ready to get back on an airplane right now, but I’m hoping with therapy that I’ll be able to work through it,” she said.

At this time, the cause for the smoke in the cockpit has not been released.