The scenes on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport after American Airlines Flight AA109 was forced to turn around mid-flight and make an emergency landing. Picture: Bill D
PANIC erupted on a passenger plane mid-flight after an air stewardess fainted in the aisle and several other people were struck down as a mystery illness swept through the cabin.
The American Airlines AA109 was forced to return to Heathrow two hours into a flight from London to LA yesterday when multiple people on board inexplicably became incapacitated.
Passengers told how fear rippled through the cabin amid rumours of an “airborne contamination” following the hostie’s collapse.
“(The air stewardess) literally just fainted … just fell forward, put her hand out and hit the floor,” passenger Kris Evans told ABC News. “It was crazy”.
Also on board was Eric Winter, who posted several dramatic photos of the incident to Twitter.
“It was probably as tense as anyone wants to be 30,000 feet in the air,” he told CBS NEWS.
“I saw an older gentleman — unfortunately, he had thrown up all over himself.”
The Boeing 777-300, which was carrying 172 passengers, took off from London at 12:05pm local time and landed in the same city about five hours later.
The aircraft had been flying close to Keflavik in southwest Iceland when the emergency broke out.
This morning it emerged the sickness had been preceded by a smell of “burning fumes”, leading many to question why the captain chose to fly all the way back to London instead of landing in Iceland while there was the possibility of engine trouble.
Passenger Lee Gunn took this picture of the scene on the ground at Heaththrow Airport after a mystery illness forced Flight AA109 to make an emergency landing.
Now being reported that #AA109 had a burning smell in cabin. Which makes flying almost 3hrs all way back to LHR all the more questionable.
— Gerry McDermott (@Dosser62) January 28, 2016
#AA109 is the weirdest 7700 I've seen in a while. Near Iceland and declares an emergency, then returns to London. cc. @SkyNewsBreak
— Kev Atkinson (@kevatkinson) January 27, 2016
The New York Times reported dizziness, fainting and nausea are symptoms associated with “jet engine fumes leaking into the cabin”.
It is understood up to nine people, including seven crew members, were taken ill during the incident, although none required hospital treatment after landing.
Manchester boy band Race the Horizon, who shot to fame as finalists on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012 were also on board and described the whole episode as a “nightmare”.
“A lady from the cabin crew was walking down the aisle and she just stumbled and fainted right by us,” band member Kris Evans told The Mirror.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before on a plane. Then a couple of rows in front an older man started feeling sick. It was weird, like a nightmare. Cabin crew rushed over, we were in shock.
“We still don’t know what caused it, that’s the scary thing. It feels like it was something in the air.”
American Airlines said an investigation was ongoing but that air filters had been replaced in the meantime as a precaution.
“Yesterday, two passengers and some of our flight attendants complained of light-headedness during the flight,” the airline said in a statement.
“The captain elected to return the Boeing 777-300 to London. The aircraft landed safely, where it was met by paramedics who evaluated passengers and crew. None requested further medical attention.
“Our maintenance team conducted a thorough inspection of the aircraft, including a test flight, and found no issues with the Boeing 777-300. Out of an abundance of caution, all of the air filters on the aircraft were replaced.”
An paramedic checks on an elderly passenger on board Flight AA109
Passenger Lee Gunn took this picture after the aircraft landed safely at Heathrow
Aviation expert Bruce Rodger told the Daily Mailthe mystery fumes could have come from a number of sources, including the plane’s air-conditioning system, a malfunctioning oven in the galley, or “a chemical leak from a passenger’s bag”.
“Any time there is a problem in flight when passengers are ill — especially five or six — the captain will most likely turn the plane around to land it at the closest place,” Mr Rodger said.
“It sounds like it was bad and this could have been a situation that the air quality was possibly compromised somehow.”
Passenger Mr Winter praised the crew members for their professionalism and said the hardest part of the flight was the unknown.
“In the absence of information, your mind can go crazy, but I think they did a tremendous job,” he told CBS News. “They communicated to us every step of the way.
“And here we are. We’re sitting on the ground and we’re fine.”
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