A Ryanair passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 was removed from the plane by officials donning full hazmat suits
A Ryanair passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 was removed from the plane by officials donning full hazmat suits
Lauren Frias
Video footage showed officials donning full hazmat suits escorting a passenger who tested positive for the coronavirus off a Ryanair flight bound for Italy.
The plane was minutes from take off in the London Stansted Airport to Pisa, Italy, the Daily Mail reported.
In the video shared on Twitter Wednesday, officials in hazmat suits appear to be talking with one of the passengers as a flight attendant makes her way through the aisle.
Ryanair confirmed in a statement to SkyNews and the Daily Mail that the passenger and the person who was traveling with him were escorted off the plane after the passenger received a text that he tested positive for COVID-19.
"There was little if any risk of Covid-19 transmission to other passengers or crew members as all of whom were also wearing face masks at all times," the Ryanair spokesperson said in a statement, citing the Daily Mail and Sky News reports.
"The aircraft departed for Pisa following a delay of 1 hour and 20 mins to allow for the empty seats and overhead cabin bins to be disinfected to comply with all UK health authority guidance," the spokesperson continued. "Ryanair apologises to all passengers for this short delay."
A Stansted airport spokesman told Sky News that the local fire service removed the two passengers.
Fionn Murphy, the passenger who recorded the Twitter video, told Sky News that he and his mother wanted to disembark the plane after finding out that another passenger had tested positive for the coronavirus.
"At this point we started to feel a bit panicked, not knowing if the flight would be cancelled, or worse we'd been exposed to the virus," Murphy told Sky News. "Once the men came on in hazmat suits it got frighteningly real. I wanted to get off the flight straight away."
