United Airlines temporarily grounded a Boeing 737 Max jet after 30 passengers experienced symptoms like vomiting. The incident occurred as the plane was carrying 163 passengers from Vancouver to Houston, with about 75 individuals on board returning from a cruise. Of those cruise passengers, around 30 fell ill, displaying flu-like symptoms including nausea and vomiting.
While it has not been confirmed which cruise ship the affected passengers were on, reports suggest only one vessel, Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas, was docked in Vancouver on the day in question and had previously experienced a norovirus outbreak. The United 737 Max was taken out of service for deep cleaning after the incident, leading to the cancellation of two subsequent flights on Friday and Saturday that were scheduled to be operated by the same aircraft.
This event marks the second instance of widespread illness on an airline within a month, with a Condor flight from Mauritius experiencing a similar situation where 70 passengers suffered from nausea and vomiting. In a more infamous case, a Japan Air Lines flight in 1975 saw 197 passengers falling ill, with 144 people requiring hospitalization due to contaminated meals infected with Staphylococcus bacteria causing food poisoning. United Airlines has not yet responded to requests for comment following the incident.