Mystery illness causes flight to be turned back to Heathrow
An American Airlines flight yesterday had to be turned back to London Heathrow when several crew and passengers became ill.
The captain of Flight AA109, on its way to Los Angeles with 172 on board, decided to return to Heathrow when flight attendants collapsed in the aisles, sparking fears of contamination in the air conditioning.
The flight was around 2hr 30mins in when a cabin announcement called for any doctors on board to come forward.
Passengers told the Mirror that the cabin lights came on and ‘there was lots of commotion’.
The flight turned back to Heathrow and was met by ambulances, police cars and fire crews. Passenger weren’t allowed to disembark until checks were made.
Reports say seven crew and some passengers had become ill, although the London Ambulance Service tweeted that it has checked over six patients who were feeling unwell.
"They were discharged on scene," it said.
A spokesman for American Airlines said two passengers and ‘some of our (16) flight attendants’ complained of lightheadedness during the flight.
"The aircraft landed safely in London, where it was met by paramedics who evaluated passengers and crew. None requested further medical attention."
He said maintenance teams have conducted a full inspection of the aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER.
The spokesman could not confirm if the aircraft was now back in service.
"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience," he added.
"Many of our customers have already been accommodated to their final destination and we are working with others to get them to Los Angeles or their final destination as quickly as possible."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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