A fire on board a P-3 Orion was extinguished before the aging aircraft landed safely at the Ault Field base of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Thursday.

Kim Martin, Navy spokesperson, said the 16-member crew was conducting normal operations when smoke filled the maritime patrol airplane at about 12:30 p.m.

“The electrical fire of unknown origin” was put out before the P-3 landed ten minutes later, she said. An ambulance from the base responded to the runway to treat the crew.

“Some of the people were feeling ill from the smoke,” Martin said, adding that none of the crew members were sick enough to be taken away by ambulance.

Martin said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

The P-3C Orion is a land-based, long-range, anti-submarine-warfare patrol aircraft.