2 More Flights Were Quarantined for Sick Passengers -- This Time at PHL
Two more international flights landing in the US were quarantined after several passengers exhibited flu-like symptoms on board.
The two incidents, which happened Thursday afternoon at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), follow a similar situation that unfolded Wednesday at New York's Kennedy airport (JFK) after an incoming Emirates flight from Dubai (DXB) was quarantined on the tarmac and met by Centers for Disease Control officials after 11 passengers contracted symptoms, including fevers, coughing and vomiting.
At least 12 passengers fell ill on two separate inbound flights: one from Paris (American Airlines 755) and one from Munich (American Airlines 1317). "As a precaution, all passengers on the two flights – totaling about 250 plus crew – were held for a medical review and the CDC was notified," airport officials said in a statement. "CDC, the Philadelphia Health Department and the Philadelphia Fire Department personnel performed medical evaluations and assessments," the statement continued.
All other healthy passengers, except for the 12 sick flyers, were in the process of being released by late Thursday afternoon. It isn't clear if the sick passengers were taken to a hospital via ambulance, as the ill JFK passengers were.
It also remains unclear if the two situations are somehow linked. Officials said that nothing more than an outbreak of the flu and the common cold were to blame for the situation on the Emirates flight at JFK on Wednesday.