NEWS: Airline Passengers Fall Ill, Land in Baltimore

Six passengers onboard a Southwest flight from Houston to Baltimore became ill in flight. The plane landed at Baltimore-Washington Airport and was met on the tarmac by emergency medical personnel. More than one passenger was unconscious and/or vomiting.
Initial reports indicated ten to twelve people were transported to a local hospital, some in critical condition, though it is now said that fewer people were affected.
Witnesses reported what appear to be two planes on the runway surrounded by police.
Air samples and other tests did not reveal any contaminates. It is believed that the illness was related to existing medical conditions.



A reporter on scene reports that air traffic at BWI airport has been affected. No planes have been observed taking off or arriving since the event took place.

Related News Stories:
WUSA


[edit on 16-7-2004 by Banshee]

I've found some more info on this....watch this space for updates.

Supporting story:

Passengers fall ill aboard Southwest flight



[edit on 15-7-2004 by Spectre]

my first guess is food poisoning

The flight is not of such duration that this could be in-flight food service related.

So don't even go there people, not unless the food was contaminated with a fast-acting contaminant.

[edit on 7-15-2004 by Valhall]

More Supporting News




Fumes???

[edit on 15-7-2004 by TrickmastertricK]

Well my rich friends, if you flown SouthWest you'd know they only serve peanuts! Bleh I fly home in 2 days.

Originally posted by spangbr
my first guess is food poisoning

Southwest is a peanuts and pretzle type food service. Also given the short duration of the flight, maybe they caught hold of something prior to leaving. But who knows. Also, food poisoning would have resulted in alot of nausea and vomiting well before you get to the passed out stage. Maybe they were drunk?????

as many as 12 people onboard who were not conscious when the plane landed

Unconscious from food poisoning?
Doesn't food poisoning usually result in vomiting / diarrhea and not loss of consciousness?

EDIT: Nevermind, I see the link mentioning fumes now.


[edit on 15-7-2004 by AceOfBase]

I would say the event of Southwest serving a "meal" (now there's an ambiguous term in air travel) would be almost as big a breaking story.

Southwest Airlines in-flight food & beverage policy.


[edit on 15/7/2004 by Mirthful Me]

This is messed up, guys.

12 unconscious .... some reportedly in *critical* condition??

That's not food poisoning, and what kind of "fumes" could do that??

They became sick from fumes.
maybe some exhaust slipped into the Air system..



Yeah I have to bring this up.. No Cnn/FOX/MSNBC...Hmmmmm

[edit on 15-7-2004 by TrickmastertricK]

Could it be there was dry ice in the cargo hold?

Originally posted by MountainStar
Could it be there was dry ice in the cargo hold?

Dry ice is prohibited as cargo/checked baggage, four pounds can be carried on board for perishables provided there is adequate package venting.

FAA regulations for Hazmat.

Originally posted by TrickmastertricK
They became sick from fumes.
maybe some exhaust slipped into the Air system..
[edit on 15-7-2004 by TrickmastertricK]

Unless they had some preexisting condition, athers would have been sick.... Also, when we load the chopter with a medical patient we suck in alot of fumes, I have never had one pass out. Even a sick asthmatic. I would expect alot of people would have been sick. Im putting my money on illegal drugs or booze

I want to agree with you since it makes the most sense BUT... 12 people all high on the same stuff? That seems pretty unlikely too doesn't it?

One possibility is the plane was empty toward the back and these 12 piled in back there to stretch out and got the fumes?

m...

According to the article one of the passengers did vomit just before the plane landed and others became ill.

LINTHICUM, Md. -- A passenger apparently vomited onboard a plane just before it landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport late Thursday night.

Excerpted from.
www.thewbalchannel.com...

There were as many as 20 ambulances............

The two planes that were surrounded were other flights.

The following is a link to the flight status of the flight, 1283 from Southwest Airlines, there is no other information from the main website of Southwest...
View Flight Status Information


[edit on 15-7-2004 by Muaddib]

i wonder where the rest of the passergers are, just in case. i hope its somthg not too serious like food poisoning or monox inhalation, im just thinking of t worst possible scenario...

Guys, where were these fumes coming from? A plane is pressurized, and sealed; it�s not like your car where the engine exhaust can leak inside. Southwest only fly�s 737�s to my knowledge, and the engines are out on the wings. The only other thing that I can think of would be the APU malfunctioning and blowing something in with the air conditioning, but that would affect everyone on the plane. I am more inclined to believe that someone came on-board ill and passed it around, or they came in contact with something in the terminal. I used to work on civilian jets as a ramp lead and supervisor, but am not an expert on the subject; however I cannot think of anything that the plane would emit that would do this. Even the APU exhaust never made us ramp guys sick when we would stand under it to dry off from the rain.

Originally posted by defcon5
Guys, where were these fumes coming from? A plane is pressurized, and sealed; it�s not like your car where the engine exhaust can leak inside. Southwest only fly�s 737�s to my knowledge, and the engines are out on the wings. Even the APU exhaust never made us ramp guys sick when we would stand under it to dry off from the rain.

That was my point about loading the helichopter. We sit on the ground sometimes with rotors turning to bun off fuel to compensate for patients weight. We breath plenty of fumes and even the patietns don't get any sicker. What we need is a little more info.

1) Are the sick related?
2) Maybe they all ate at the same place prior to taking off.
3) maybe we had alot of barfers on one plane? I have seen it more times thatn I care to count. One person get sick and it sets off a chain reaction like you would not believe. Kind of like a barfing Domino