A Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados to London was quarantined on arrival after 50 passengers and crew were struck with mysterious coughing fits
- A Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados was quarantined upon arrival in London on Wednesday after 50 passengers reported nausea and coughing fits.
- Flight VS610 was a private charter from Bridgetown, which landed at London Gatwick at 5:13 a.m.
- A Hazardous Area Response Team attended the plane, took affected passengers to a holding area, and took three to hospital.
- Passenger Trevor Wilson tweeted passengers were suffering with a "bad chesty cough possibly chest infection."
A Virgin Atlantic plane flying into London was quarantined on arrival after 50 passengers and crew were struck by coughing fits and "nausea."
Flight VS610 - a private charter by the cruise company MSC - landed at Gatwick Airport from Bridgetown, Barbados, at 5:13 a.m. on Wednesday.
Passengers were quarantined on arrival by the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust, an airport spokesman told Business Insider.
Members of the flight crew had called in advance to warn that large numbers of people were unwell, the spokesman said.
Passenger Trevor Wilson tweeted: "Currently been stuck on plane at #gatwick for 90 mins due to sickness on board! Now told we are being taken to a holding centre to be assessed!"
Medics entered the plane wearing masks, and removed ill passengers into a holding area, after which the remaining passengers were disembarked and continued their journeys, Virgin Atlantic and the airport told Business Insider.
Read more: Virgin Atlantic's female flight attendants are no longer required to wear makeup
Wilson described the illness as "Mainly a bad chesty cough possibly chest infection" which "seems to originate from the cruise ship."
Business Insider has contacted MSC for comment.
Three passengers from the eight-hour transatlantic flight were taken to hospital for further evaluation, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust said in a statement.
The full statement said:
Virgin told the BBC that 50 passengers and crew had reported feeling unwell.
Virgin Atlantic told Business Insider in a statement: