A United Plane Had To Be Taken Out Of Service And Deep Cleaned After Dozens Of Passengers Flying Home From A Cruise Started Throwing Up
A United Boeing 737 Max.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- United Airlines briefly grounded a jet after 30 passengers fell ill with symptoms like vomiting.
- The Boeing 737 Max was carrying dozens of passengers who were returning from a cruise.
- Two flights were canceled after the jet was taken out of service for deep cleaning.
A United Airlines plane had to be removed from service after dozens of passengers fell ill.
The Boeing 737 Max was carrying 163 passengers from Vancouver to Houston on Friday.
About 75 of those on board were returning from a cruise — about 30 of whom fell ill, the Daily Mail reported.
The newspaper reported that their symptoms were flu-like, which included vomiting and nausea.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, United confirmed, "Several passengers who had been on the same cruise and did not feel well were on United Flight 1528."
The airline added that it is "actively coordinating with health authorities to address the situation."
It's not been confirmed which cruise ship the passengers came from, but Cruise Hive reported only one was docked in Vancouver on Friday — Royal Caribbean International's Radiance of the Seas. The vessel experienced a norovirus outbreak last month.
United said the plane was temporarily removed from service for a deep cleaning, "as a precautionary measure."
Data from Flightradar24 shows two subsequent flights on Friday and Saturday, due to be operated by the same jet, were canceled. However, it departed Houston less than 24 hours after it landed.
Friday's incident was the second airline case of widespread illness within a month.
A Condor flight from Mauritius was met by emergency services as 70 passengers suffered nausea and vomiting. The airline said it was adjusting its cleaning processes as a result.
The most infamous airline-vomiting incident occurred on a 1975 Japan Air Lines flight. 197 passengers fell ill, of whom 144 were taken to the hospital. It was later found that some of the meals had been contaminated by Staphylococcus bacteria, which caused food poisoning.
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