What It Looks Like When There's an Ebola Scare on a Plane

ByABC NEWS ABCNews logo
Thursday, October 9, 2014

An Ebola scare on a US Airways flight leaving Philadelphia prompted officials to meet the plane when it arrived in the Dominican Republic after a passenger reportedly said he had Ebola.

US Airways flight 845 to Punta Cana was inspected upon arriving Wednesday "due to a possible health issue on board," the airline said in a statement.

An airline spokesperson told ABC News the report they have is that another passenger heard the comment and alerted a flight attendant. The FA then alerted the captain. The comment was made while the flight was on approach to its final destination.

Video shot by a passenger and posted to YouTube shows a team in hazmat suits entering the plane.

In the video, a flight attendant told passengers that the hazmat team boarding the plane would look worse than it was.

"I think the man that has said this is an idiot," she said.

Later in the video, a man appearing to be led out of the plane by the hazmat team says, "I ain't from Africa."

Dominican Republic officials cleared the plane after checking it in adherence with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the airline.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused but the safety of our customers and employees is our first priority," read the airline's statement.

On Saturday, a CDC crew in hazmat gear met a plane arriving in Newark, New Jersey, from Belgium after a sickened man triggered fears that he might have had Ebola. He later tested negative for the disease.

With reporting by ABC News' Matt Hosford.

Related Topics