Jet quarantined in New York after reports of sick passengers

NEW YORK — A large commercial jet from Dubai caused a scare on Wednesday after a pilot radioed that it would be landing at New York’s Kennedy Airport carrying several passengers and crew members who fell ill with flu-like symptoms.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately quarantined the double-decker Emirates aircraft holding 520 passengers so it could evaluate about 100 of them. Some had complained about coughs, headaches, sore throats and fevers.

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.

On social media, passengers including 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice, posted photos and videos of a large-scale emergency response when the aircraft touched down around 9 a.m. EDT at JFK. Video from news helicopters showed the jet stranded on the tarmac for several minutes before passengers began to emerge so they could board buses to get to the terminal.

Another traveler in the business class section of the aircraft, Raghida Dergham, also said in an interview that sick passengers were in a “lower level” economy section of the plane.

“I feel great. I feel fine,” Dergham said. “Nobody was alarmed. It was handled very well.”

Some passengers said they suspected that some people were sick before they got on the plane and blamed the airline for not doing more to protect the health of others.