A passenger plane flying from London to the US was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin after noxious fumes left two crew members temporarily unconscious.
Paramedics who met American Airlines flight 729 after it touched down in the Irish capital took the staff and a passenger to hospital for evaluation, according to the airline.
The plane, flying from Heathrow to Philadelphia, landed safely at Dublin at 1.15pm local time after the incident, which was said to have been caused by a cleaning product left behind on the aircraft which had spilled.
“We require paramedics to come onboard the airplane and render immediate assistance,” one of the plane’s pilots reportedly told Dublin air traffic control in a recording posted online by the Airport Webcams account on Twitter.
“Two of our … cabin staff have actually lost consciousness, I think they’re back to consciousness now; and there are general complaints about burning eyes and other problems with mucus in the nose, skin problems,” the pilot said.
According to the pilot, the incident had been caused by “a cleaning product used at Heathrow” that had been left behind in a toilet, then spilled and seeped into the carpet. A statement by American Airlines said the spill had happened in the galley.
One passenger aboard the flight said that some people were feeling unwell before the flight even departed Heathrow. He said the plane was delayed by an hour as a result.
“The plane still took off and then an announcement later told us, about one hour into flying time, that some crew members are feeling ill along with a few passengers and we have to make an emergency landing in Dublin,” the passenger, who was not named, told Mail Online.
Philip Ott posted a picture on Twitter of passengers from the flight standing around in Dublin airport after the flight landed.
Here's everyone standing around Dublin's Airport after our flight was grounded due to a chemical spill. Anyone is welcome to use this picture for any reason. pic.twitter.com/fORyxJFLVv
— Philip Ott (@Blasphevism) October 21, 2019
In a separate tweet he added: “I’m standing around with dozens of other people in Dublin’s airport because our flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia was forced to land because you all failed to clean up your cleaning chemicals and people were feeling ill.
“Why are you so bad at this?”
A Dublin airport spokesperson said: “As per standard operating procedures there was a full turnout of Dublin Airport’s emergency fire services.”
