An Emirates airplane, with around 500 people on board, has landed at JFK Airport reportedly with 100 passengers sick.
Emirates Flight 203, an Airbus A380, landed in the New York airport after declaring a medical emergency on Wednesday.
The passengers reportedly had fevers of up to over 100 degrees, while many were coughing, the pilot said.
While initial reports claim up to 100 people reported sickness, the airliner has put the number at 10.
The plane, arriving from Dubai, landed at the airport at around 9am.
It arrived at Terminal 4, where Port Authority Police and a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated the incident.
Footage shows ambulances and other emergency services surrounding the plane, while NYPD Counter-terrorism said it was “monitoring” the quarantine in case the incident progressed above a medical situation and that it was working with the Port Authority and Federal partners.
The aircraft is not going to a terminal, instead being directed to a hard-stand area as emergency medical response teams investigate the cause of the illness.
Photographs tweeted by passengers inside the plane show dozens of ambulances and police vehicles parked and waiting as the aircraft landed.
While the cause of the illness remains unknown, local reports on the ground from a source briefed on the situation believe it may be food related. However, this may change with new information provided by the CDC.
