Crew Sickness Diverts BA Flight for Emergency Landing

Britain’s flag carrier has not commented on the nature of the illness or its possible cause.

A British Airways (BA) flight from San Francisco was forced to make an emergency landing at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) earlier this week after all 25 crew members fell ill. The incident occurred about two hours into the progress of London-bound BA Flight 286 at 11:30 p.m. PT on Monday evening and affected both the plane’s cabin crew as well as its three pilots.

BA spokeswoman Michelle Kropf told the CBC that, “The flight from San Francisco diverted to Vancouver after members of the cabin crew became unwell.” While initial reports have cited smoke inhalation as a possible cause of the incident, the carrier has said that it is investigating the matter.

Laura Kohli, spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health, the authority that assessed the crew, told the Guardian that, “I can confirm we had a total of 25 crew members that were transported to local area hospitals as a precaution.”

However, it seems that the flight’s passengers weren’t given much detail on the incident. Traveler Liz Keller told the paper that the flight had progressed as normal for the first couple of hours of travel, but the captain then explained to passengers that they would be diverting due to a technical fault.

Shortly after making this initial announcement, the pilot then explained to passengers that members of the crew had taken ill.

Keller added that, “You could tell the crew was a little distressed: they ended the dinner service early; they were spending a lot of time in the back galley.”

Once BA286 landed in Vancouver, travelers were asked to remain seated so that crew could be examined and treated. Two passengers were also examined as a precaution.

Keller said that, while passengers had been provided with local accommodation for the night, BA had not provided any clarity or explanation on the incident.

In a statement quoted by the paper, the carrier apologized to passengers for the delay, but said that “the safety and well-being of our customers and crew is always our top priority.”