0 min left

Illness Breaks out on Virgin Atlantic Flight, Passengers Quarantined

A mystery illness has led to the quarantine of multiple passengers and crew onboard a Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados to London. As a precaution, the plane was met by medical staff upon its landing at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) on Wednesday morning. Around 30 persons have been affected.

An unknown illness has led to the quarantine of a number of Virgin Atlantic passengers and crew members at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW), the BBC reports. It is reported that medical staff attended to the plane as it landed from Bridgetown’s Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) at just before 05:30 local time on Wednesday morning.

The illness has not been specified, but speaking to the outlet, Trevor Wilson, a passenger onboard the flight described it as “a bad chesty cough, possibly a chest infection”.

It is reported that the flight, which was a charter service, was carrying 448 cruise passengers. All those who fell ill were reportedly passengers onboard the MSC Preziosa, cruise company MSC Cruises has confirmed.

It is reported that 30 people on the flight have needed medical treatment and that two were taken to a local hospital as a result of this illness.

A spokesperson for the cruise company offered an official statement to the BBC, saying, “We are still investigating what may have caused the illness and we are currently waiting for further updates from Gatwick Airport medical services. What we do know is that on MSC Preziosa, no cases of acute gastroenteritis have been reported in the past 14 days.”

A spokesperson for Virgin also commented on the incident, stating, “A number of customers on board a charter flight from Barbados to London Gatwick this morning reported feeling unwell onboard. As a precaution, the plane was met by the relevant authorities who made the decision to screen everyone onboard, in line with standard health and safety procedures.”

“We are working closely with London Gatwick Airport and medical teams to offer assistance to customers, and will conduct a full investigation into the circumstances. There is no reason to believe this is anything other than an isolated incident,” they added.

[Source: Shutterstock]

Comments are Closed.
2 Comments
C
choppertester March 7, 2019

A charter full of post cruise passengers. "Cruise cough" is very common when leaving a cruise. I think they overreacted.

I
IBobi March 7, 2019

Is it zombie-related?