Passengers taken to hospital after feeling ill on an Emirates flight

EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EUL (CN 224)                    File Photo

As many as 100 passengers and crew complained of feeling sick during a14-hour Emirates flight last Wednesday night, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement.

TEN passengers and crew members who were taken to hospital in New York after arriving sick on a flight from Dubai appear to have the flu.  Eric Phillips, spokesman for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, said it appeared that some of the ill passengers had come from Mecca, which is experiencing a flu outbreak. “Health officials are processing tests now to determine the cause. Symptoms are still pointing to the flu,” he tweeted. Oxiris Barbot, the city’s acting health commissioner, added the results of the tests were expected later that night. Passengers reported feeling ill during Emirates Flight 203, with health workers evaluating them as the plane sat on the tarmac of JFK International Airport. The flight, with 521 passengers on board, touched down shortly after 9am local time (11pm AEST) on Wednesday and was immediately surrounded by dozens of ambulances and other emergency vehicles as anxious passengers waited to be evaluated by health officials. ABC News reports that the pilot raised concerns prior to landing that some of the passengers were coughing and experiencing high temperatures. Another passenger posted a video of officials wearing protective clothing checking passengers over as they disembarked. A passenger on board the flight tweeted that before getting off the plane, passengers had their temperatures taken and were asked to fill out a "Passenger Locator Information Form" by the CDC.

Aircraft Information

Airline: Emirates

Code: EK/UAE

Flight Number: 203

Aircraft Type: A380-861
Registration: A6-EUF

Serial Number: 218

Engines: 4 x GP7270

First Flew: 6/4/2016

Age: 2 Yrs 4 Mths

Test Registration: F-WWAV