United Airlines Temporarily Halts Flight After 30 Passengers Become Ill

The Boeing 737 Max was carrying 163 passengers from Vancouver to Houston on Friday. About 75 of those on board were returning from a cruise, with around 30 of them falling ill with flu-like symptoms, including vomiting and nausea as reported by the Mail. It has not been confirmed which cruise ship the passengers came from, but there was only one ship docked in Vancouver on Friday, which was Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas. This vessel had experienced a norovirus outbreak last month. Following the incident, the United 737 Max was temporarily taken out of service for deep cleaning.
Data from Flightradar24 indicated that two subsequent flights scheduled to be operated by the same jet on Friday and Saturday were canceled. However, the aircraft departed from Houston again less than 24 hours after it landed there. As of now, United Airlines has not provided any comments regarding the incident to Business Insider.
This Friday occurrence was the second incident of widespread illness on an airline within a month. Previously, a Condor flight from Mauritius was met by emergency services due to 70 passengers experiencing nausea and vomiting. The airline stated that they would make adjustments to their cleaning procedures following this event. Notable airlines have had similar incidents in the past, such as the infamous 1975 Japan Air Lines flight where 197 passengers fell ill, with 144 requiring hospitalization. The cause was determined to be contaminated meals with Staphylococcus bacteria leading to food poisoning.