Emirates flight from Dubai landed on Wednesday morning after passengers complained of cough and fever

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An Emirates airline flight from Dubai was quarantined at New York's John F Kennedy international airport on Wednesday morning after as many as 100 passengers and crew reported feeling ill, authorities said.

Emirates flight 203, carrying at least 521 passengers, landed shortly after 9am EDT, according to an airlines spokeswoman. Health workers were evaluating the passengers as the airplane sat on the tarmac, authorities said.

The White House said Donald Trump was being updated on the situation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that about 100 people complained of feeling sick. Their symptoms included cough and fever.

Among the passengers was the 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice, who posted a video of the emergency response.

Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) So I just landed from Dubai and now there is like tons of ambulances and fire trucks and police all over the place pic.twitter.com/i9QLh6WyJW

The rapper, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, wrote: “This is crazy. Apparently there is over 100 people sick on the bottom floor, so happy I’m up top, it’s a double-decker plane 380”

Officials said 10 people - three passengers and seven crew members - ended up hospitalized in what Emirates called a "precaution." The rest were cleared to continue their travels while the CDC sought to determine what caused the sickness.

Sign up to receive the top US stories every morning

The airplane involved was a double-deck Airbus A388 – the world's largest passenger aircraft.

CDC public health officers were working with other agencies to evaluate passengers, including taking temperatures and making arrangements for transport to hospitals, spokesman Benjamin Haynes said in the statement.



Some sick passengers were taken to Jamaica hospital medical center with non-life-threatening conditions, according to a New York City fire department spokesman.

New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, was briefed on the incident, his spokesman, Eric Phillips, wrote on Twitter.

Larry Cohen, who identified himself as one of the passengers aboard the plane, uploaded photos on Twitter showing dozens of police and emergency vehicles waiting outside the plane on the tarmac.

"All we have been told is that there are some sick passengers and that we need to remain on board," Cohen told Reuters via Twitter messaging.