Emirates Dubai to New York flight: three passengers and seven crew taken ill (Video)

New York, 5 September, The National

An Emirates Airline flight from Dubai was kept isolated at John F Kennedy Airport in New York on Wednesday after reports that a number of passengers on board were sick.

Three passengers and seven crew members on flight EK203 have been transferred to hospital for evaluation and further medical treatment, Emirates said in a statement.

All of the passengers were screened by the local health authorities prior to disembarkation, with nine requiring additional medical screening, but were later released.

The passengers who were cleared were allowed to leave later on Wednesday and passed through customs.

"Our crew and on-ground staff extended our full co-operation with the authorities during the on board screenings and the aircraft has now been handed back to Emirates," the statement said.

"We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our top priority."

The flight was travelling from Dubai to New York and landed at 09:00 local time when a number of passengers were reportedly taken ill.

Erin Sykes, a passenger from New York who was traveling on the flight, told The National that people on the flight "were coughing and were sick to their stomachs".

"Most were sick well before the flight took off. It was obvious some people should never had been allowed to board. They were coughing and not covering their mouths, and the hygiene was really bad. Then other passengers started to get sick."

Ms Sykes said that there had been no announcements about what was happening.

She also said that passengers had their temperature checked as they exited the plane.

Archaeologist Larry Coben, who was also traveling on the flight, said on Twitter that the flight was met by a number of ambulances and police cars on the ground.

They were then told that some people had been taken ill before being asked to fill in a CDC passenger information form.

Emirates were expecting a three-hour delay to the returning flight as a result of the incident.

Original reports had suggested that as many as 100 passengers said that they were feeling ill, which was echoed by passengers on board the flight.

In a statement released to The National, the US Centre for Disease Control said: "CDC is aware of an Emirates flight from Dubai that arrived this morning at JFK. Approximately 100 passengers, including some crew on the flight, complained of illness including coughs and some with fever.

"CDC public health officers are working with port authority, EMS, and CBP officials to evaluate passengers including taking temperatures and making arrangements for transport to local hospitals for those that need care.

"Passengers who are not ill will be allowed to continue with their travel plans, and if necessary will be followed up with by health officials. There were approximately 521 passengers on the flight. We will have more information as passengers and crew members are evaluated."