After less than an hour in the air, a United Air jetliner that left Los Angeles at 6:37 p.m. Monday heading to San Francisco had an emergency with smoke reported in the cockpit.
The crew decided to land at the Santa Barbara Airport with Santa Barbara City firefighters on the scene at 7:20 p.m.
The plane, an Airbus 320, had 174 people on board.
After a safe landing, no obvious problem was detected despite the use of special equipment to look for heat sources in the cockpit.
A second plan was brought in to take the passengers on their flight, though some chose to take a car and drive.
