Mystery illness forces Thomson flight to return to Florida
A Thomson Dreamliner performed a u-turn mid-flight and returned to Orlando after several crew members and passengers fell ill due to a mysterious fumes onboard.
Five passengers were taken to hospital and 27 people were treated for nausea and dizziness when the flight landed back in the US, according to reports.
However, Thomson has not stated the cause of the problem on the 787 flight from Orlando to Bristol.
Passengers were told 45 minutes into the flight that they would be returning to Sanford airport due to a ‘medical emergency’.
Some crew members were seen wearing oxygen masks and some passengers claimed to have seen smoke from the windows.
When they landed back in Florida, an announcement was made asking those passengers who felt unwell to let staff know and they were checked by a doctor.
Officials checked the plane but deemed the air quality to be in normal range, according to Sanford airport spokeswoman Lauren Rowe.
She told the Orlando Sentinel that a hazardous-materials team responded and deemed the air quality to be within normal range.
A Thomson spokeswoman declined to give any further information about the cause of the illness, saying only: "Thomson Airways would like to apologise for any inconvenience to our customers onboard flight TOM375 travelling from Orlando to Bristol which was diverted back to Orlando International Airport. This was due to two crew members and a small number of passengers who reported feeling unwell.
"We provided passengers with food and accommodation before boarding them onto new flights and everyone is now safely back in the UK.
"The safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance to us and we would like to reassure everyone that events such as these are rare."
According to the fire report, there was a ‘strong odour from an unknown source’ onboard.
The report said: "Pilot advised there was at least two crew members who were not feeling well and that could be caused by the white mist they observed in the rear of the aircraft.
"Upon further investigation it was noticed that the rear of the aircraft had a strong odor from and unknown source. Airport command requested the SHOT team to assess air quality.
"E35 arrived on scene and did the air quality assessment on the aircraft, inside cargo holes and necessary ports as determined by aircraft mechanic.
"It was determined that air-quality was within normal range and that the cause could have possibly been a nearby brush fires smoke that entered the cabin. No definitive determinations were made as of now."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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