Dozens of passengers on a flight from Mauritius to Frankfurt, Germany, at an altitude of 38,000 feet on Thursday, suffered nausea and vomiting midway through the flight between the two destinations. 70 passengers on a Condor flight reported suffering from nausea and vomiting in the middle of the flight, which was heading to Frankfurt.
The plane was received after landing in the German city by a large team of emergency doctors, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”.
A spokesman for the German airline confirmed the incident to the Bild newspaper, adding that the flight crew was not affected by the disease.
The airline did not confirm the cause of the sudden illness, but indicated that the food on board had been prepared in Mauritius. According to the company, it has opened an investigation into the incident to determine the real cause and extract possible measures from it.
She added: “After carefully examining the general situation, the flight continued. The plane landed safely in Frankfurt, where medical specialists were present to care for the affected guests.
However, the airline did not confirm the cause of the sudden illness, but indicated that the food on board was being prepared in Mauritius.
The company spokeswoman added: “Condor has already begun an investigation into the case to find out the real cause and extract possible measures from it. Condor is working closely with all partners and responsible authorities. There is currently no conclusion available.”
The statement added: “We do not generally engage in speculation about the cause, for example about individual in-flight menus that were prepared in Mauritius.”
While individuals falling ill while flying is not uncommon, it appears to be less common for several passengers — let alone 70 people — to become ill at once.
The most extreme case occurred in 1975 when a widespread food poisoning outbreak caused confusion on a Japan Airlines flight from Anchorage, Alaska, to Paris — forcing the plane to land in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Of the 344 people on board, 197 developed nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps after eating an in-flight meal contaminated with staph — the largest food poisoning incident on a commercial airliner.
Although there were no deaths, 44 of the passengers were so seriously ill that they required hospitalization and 30 of them were in critical condition.
The majority of passengers were Japanese salesmen working for Coca-Cola, along with their families, who had won a trip to Paris.
