A friend told me the Allegro (?)Airlines plane he took Jan. 8 from Boston to Antigua filled with smoke five minutes in to the flight. The hostess told the panicky passengers they had painted the engine just before takeoff. The pilot was unable to communicate as he could not speak English. The smoke cleared and they continued on. What would cause this to happen?

-- nancy (nallen@acadia.net), January 24, 2000