50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

Mystery illness spread through plane mid-flight hitting '7 crew members and passengers'

Download: Printable PDF Date: 28 Jan 2016 07:10 (UTC) category:
Publisher:
Mystery illness spread through plane mid-flight hitting '7 crew members and passengers' - Airlines publisher
Dana Ermolenko
Country: United Kingdom Aircraft: Airplanes Airline: American Airlines
Source: Mirror

Mystery surrounds an unknown illness which has spread though a passenger jet and forced it to turn round.

Up to seven of 13 crew members and "many passengers" were struck down with the strange disease - but at this stage no one knows what it is.

A British passenger has described panic on board the American Airlines flight from London Heathrow to LAX a when crew asked if there was a doctor on board.

A spokesman for the airline said there was "medical emergency" and people on the flight were "ill" but had no other information.

Flight AA109 was close to Keflavik, a town in southwest Iceland, when crew declared a medical emergency and decided to head back to London.

Passengers were asked if there was a doctor on board before the decision to abort the flight was taken at approximately 2.50pm.

Paramedics and fire crews surrounded the plane as it landed at Heathrow moments ago.

Lee Gunn, who was on board the flight, told the Mirror Online: "About 2.5 hours into the flight just as we were passing Iceland we had a Tannoy announcement asking for any doctors, nurses or medical professionals on board to report to the boarding doors to assist with unwell passengers.

"The lights then came on in the cabin and there was lots of commotion.

"I'm a bit of a plane geek myself so thought 'here we go, Reykjavik here we come' but it was announced about 20 minutes after we were going to divert back to LHR.

"It was also reported that 7 of the crew - 13 on board in total I believe - had fallen ill, along with 'many' passengers."

The flight was met by Paramedics as it touched down at Heathrow just moments ago - five hours after it first took off.

It is thought the passengers luggage may have been retained for checks by the carrier.

A statement from American Airlines said: "American Airlines Flight AA 109, a Boeing 777-300, operating to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from London Heathrow, is returning to Heathrow due to a medical emergency.

"The aircraft departed London Heathrow at 1205 local time and is expected to land at Heathrow at 1700 local time.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience to their travel plans."

 

 

 





Recommended

WestJet celebrates major milestone in inflight experience transformation

WestJet completed the transformation of its remaining all-economy aircraft, fulfilling its commitment to update the interior of all aircraft that were formerly operated by Swoop or Sunwing airlines. T...

ATP Flight School offers multi-engine flight time at single-engine prices

ATP Flight School has reintroduced its 100+ Hour Multi-Engine Airline Career Pilot Program at select training centers, bringing students multi-engine flight time at single-engine prices.&nbs...

Horizon Airways doubles down on fleet modernization with order for second Tecnam P2012 STOL

Queensland-based Horizon Airways has signed an order for a second Tecnam P2012 STOL aircraft. Slated to join the Australian fleet by the end of 2026, this subsequent order rapidly...

EHang launches Global Fast Track Program to accelerate international commercialization of pilotless eVTOL; Sri Lanka first to adopt

EHang launches its Global Fast Track Program — a structured and accelerated pathway for the assessment and introduction of pilotless eVTOL operations in international markets. Sri Lanka is...

Android Apps development in Riga, Latvia