EK203 DXB-JFK Sick Passengers
 

EK203 DXB-JFK has landed and is in a quarantine due to reports of upwards of 100 passengers showing signs of illness, coughing and fevers of over 100F, some reports indicate passengers were observed as ill when they boarded the flight.

Plenty of social media coverage, local article: https://abc7ny.com/live-plane-carryi...t-jfk/4152344/

You can probably expect it will take quite some time to evaluate the 500+ people and sanitize the interior of the aircraft.

The article quoted suggests that the flight 'stopped in Mecca'. But it departed as well as landed about 35 minutes late so that stop seems unlikely.

Other sources are saying that 10 have actually fallen ill and are being evaluated and that the 100 number is coming from local (US based) news sources. Wouldn't surprise me. And that the stop in Mecca came from a statement via the Mayor's office.

Perhaps they were alluding to the idea of connecting passengers traveling back from Mecca?

Alternative truth, they call this over there....:rolleyes:

I wonder if EK has insurance to cover the extensive sanitation, parking days and downtime costs for the A380. This can't be cheap to sort out.

Just curious, does anyone know when was the last time a large widebody plane was quarantined upon arrival in US soil?

There were a number of cases during the Ebola crisis a few years back.

For example, a UA flight from BRU was quarantined at EWR when a woman who'd traveled from Sierra Leone began vomiting on board.
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/20..._on_plane.html

Interesting how UA's statement at the time was quite similar to EK's:
“After arriving at Newark Airport from Brussels, medical personnel met a United flight to assist an ill passenger on board. Passengers and crew will stay on the plane until the medical personnel clear the aircraft,” the airline stated.

If the affected pax were connecting from KSA post Haj, there could've been a concern about MERS.

At least it wasn't the catering!

I think the best case scenario here would have been the catering. A MERS outbreak or concerns will certainly be much more troublesome.

Ofcourse it does, and if it doesn't they know plenty of people with deep pockets who can pay for it :cool:

Actually it's rather unusual for bigger companies to insure such minor damages. Long term, the premiums would be higher than the damages.

Yes, in the video inside the article linked to by the OP, you can see a number of flight attendants (clearly identifiable by the uniform) being taken to the waiting ambulances.

Vanilla Ice was apparently on this flight