Photo courtesy of YouTube
Let this be a lesson to anyone who fails to stow their dark sense of humor before boarding a plane.
A man on US Airways flight 845 from Philadelphia to Punta Cana began sneezing during flight Wednesday. His off-the-cuff joke that the sneezing was due to Ebola was hardly the laugh riot he was expecting, instead causing the plane to be isolated on the tarmac for nearly two hours upon landing in Punta Cana.
A video uploaded to YouTube by passenger Patrick Narvaez shows what happened next. Passengers waiting on the tarmac start noticing the whirlwind of activity outside the plane, when a flight attendant gets on the PA and announces, "It's going to look worse than it really is… I've done this for 36 years, I think the man that said this is an idiot."
"I want you to keep your wits about you. We have people coming on… we've all been watching the news, so they look like they're in a bubble… please stay out of their way. Let them do their jobs."
At that point, personnel in Hazmat gear board the plane and remove the passenger, who tries to press the point that he wasn't being serious. He can be heard saying, "I was just joking… I ain't even from Africa."
In the aftermath of the incident, US Airways released the following statement:
"US Airways flight 845 from Philadelphia to Punta Cana was met yesterday by local officials upon landing due to a possible health issue on board. We are following the direction of, and strictly adhering to, all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in place for airlines in response to the Ebola virus. The flight was checked by officials and cleared. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused but the safety of our customers and employees is our first priority."
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