Plane held over medical concern

CDC issues midair alert on Phoenix-bound passenger; tests for infection are under way

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Sunday night that no infectious disease had been confirmed in a passenger who prompted officials to hold a US Airways plane on the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport tarmac on Saturday.

Officials from several agencies involved in the incident, however, have not said what exactly motivated the delay.

The passenger remains under medical review, according to Bill McGlashen, a US Airways spokesman.

McGlashen said he could not confirm reports from some of the 70 passengers on Flight 2846 from Austin to Phoenix that one traveler may have tuberculosis.

“We don’t know,” McGlashen said Sunday.

The CDC on Saturday notified Transportation Security Administration officials that a passenger had an unspecified “suspected medical condition,” McGlashen said. The CDC put the passenger on a no-fly list as the plane was en route to Phoenix, officials said.

On Sunday, CDC spokeswoman Karen Hunter said that “no infectious disease had been confirmed in the passenger. And even if a passenger had infectious TB, the duration of the flight was so short that there would likely be no risk of exposure to other passengers.”

When the plane landed, it stopped short of the gate as Phoenix Fire Department paramedics boarded and officials consulted the CDC, McGlashen said.

According to one passenger, a firefighter in Phoenix announced that everyone on board had been exposed to TB and said they should see their doctors immediately, then get tested in about three months.

CDC officials gave the OK for the plane to taxi to the gate and for passengers to disembark. Passengers were given information on how to follow up with the CDC, McGlashen said. Passengers disembarked at about 5:15 p.m., about 20 minutes after the scheduled arrival time.

The airline followed procedure for handling possible medical conditions on flights, which calls for consulting with health authorities, McGlashen said.

“We will continue to follow up with passengers if necessary, but they have the necessary information in case anything occurs,” he said.

Passenger Dean Davidson said when the plane landed, it taxied to an isolated area and passengers eventually were told a person on the flight had active TB and was contagious.

“I’m actually very concerned,” he said. “I can’t imagine that others aren’t becoming more concerned as we have more time to ponder what happened and the lack of information.”

Davidson said while passengers waited for about 20 minutes, a flight attendant asked a “slender” man to put on a medical mask. Firefighters eventually boarded the plane and escorted him off, he said.

A firefighter announced over the plane’s public-address system that everyone on the flight had been exposed to TB, Davidson said.

TB is caused by a bacteria that usually attacks the lungs but can attack any part of the body, including the kidney, spine and brain, according to the CDC website. It is spread from one person to another through the air. Not everyone who is infected becomes sick, but the disease can be fatal if not treated properly.