Airline Passengers, Crew Quarantined After Outbreak Of 'Coughing Sickness' On Flight

Passengers and crew on a Virgin Atlantic flight were quarantined at Gatwick Airport, England, on Wednesday morning after an outbreak of "coughing sickness" on the plane. The incident took place on board VS610 flight from eastern Caribbean island of Barbados to Gatwick.

Five crew members reportedly fell ill after arrival at the airport Wednesday morning. All the people on board were taken to a holding area where they were assessed.

Though the illness was not diagnosed, crew and passengers reportedly complained of cough and sore throat.

“This flight was exclusively cruise passengers from the MSC Preziosa. The illness seems to have originated on board ship not the plane. Five members of cabin crew became sick on flight,” passenger Trevor Wilson said, adding all the people on board were held on the plane for over an hour before being transferred to a holding area for checkup, Metro reported.

Passenger Phill Brown said, “On landing lots of people reported feeling ill sickness, diarrhea, coughs, sore throats and even rashes. It affected customers and crew. Not sure if exact numbers but I've heard it affected 50, 80 and over 100.”

Virgin Atlantic confirmed the incident and said, “A number of customers onboard the VS610, which landed at London Gatwick this morning (March 6th) from Barbados, reported feeling unwell. 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. The wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we are supporting those affected.”

Almost a dozen ambulances and emergency vehicles waited on the runway as the flight arrived at the airport.

“South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust was called to attend an in-bound flight at Gatwick at shortly before 5 a.m. today (12 a.m. EST) following reports of a number of passengers and crew feeling unwell and nauseous. We sent ambulance crews including our Hazardous Area Response Team and a number of other specialist paramedics to the scene,” said an ambulance service spokesman, Daily Mail reported.

“The crews have worked together on scene to assess and treat patients approximately 30 people, most of whom have been able to be discharged from scene with advice. Three patients are being taken to hospital for further checks. We expect to be clear from the scene within the next hour,” the spokesman added.

Several passengers were cleared to continue their journeys four hours after the landing.