Flight attendants on a British Airways flight from San Francisco to London in October vomited, appeared "spaced out" and lost while wandering the cabin, and were stuffing food in their mouths, claiming they were victims of toxic fumes that forced the flight to divert to Vancouver after barely an hour in the air.
That shocking revelation became public when the Sunday Times of London printed a story about the now two-month-old incident.
There were 22 crew members aboard the Airbus A380 superjumbo plane for the 10-hour flight on Oct. 25, which ended after 40 minutes when pilots requested an emergency landing in Vancouver.
The Times was privy to a report filed by the cabin service director, the most senior of the flight attendants, to British Airways management.
The cabin service director reported at last 12 attendants became ill and exhibited "forgetfulness, confusion, (and an) inability to think straight." That included one flight attendant who curled up on the floor with a blanket over his head while other crew treated themselves with emergency oxygen after breathing in what was described as a "strong noxious smell."
The captain declared an emergency, describing the problem as "toxic gas-type fumes," and landed in Vancouver. All the flight attendants and the three pilots were taken to a hospital.
British Airways said its engineers inspected the aircraft in Vancouver and, in a statement, said "no fault was found. … "The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We have shared our detailed and thorough investigation with the Civil Aviation Authority and fully comply with all safety regulations."
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