Several Passengers On A Frontier Flight From Cleveland To Tampa Fell Ill Mid-Air

Six passengers on a New Year’s day flight from Cleveland to Tampa fell ill mid-air, News Channel 8 reported. At different times during the flight, six of the passengers who were not related or traveling together began to become or feel psychically ill. The in-flight crew made an announcement, asking the remaining 220 passengers to speak up if they began to feel sick.

When the flight landed at 3:30 p.m. in Tampa, health officials removed the six passengers who became sick. Those who were ill aboard the flight were held for observation.

The remaining healthy passengers were then stuck on the tarmac for an additional hour and held at the request of health officials, who were reported to have entered the plane wearing safety masks. When no obvious threat was found, the healthy passengers were allowed to exit the plane at 4:30 p.m.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland airport revealed that the illness possibly spread from a contaminated water fountain in the terminal that the Tampa flight departed from. The spokesperson told News Channel 8 that the water fountain has now been shut down for further testing, and no other flights were affected.

This is not the first time the airline has made headlines as of late. In November, a piece of a Frontier engine cover broke off mid-flight, as the plane traveled from Las Vegas to Tampa. According to Fox News, passengers were jumping up and down, and banging on the ceiling in a panic, trying to get the flight crew to stop the plane.

“Safety is our top priority at Frontier Airlines and we would like to acknowledge the professionalism of our pilots and flight attendants,” a spokesperson for the airline told Fox after the engine cover, called a cowling, broke off.

More recently, in December, a Frontier flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Denver had to turn around after the aircraft failed to pressurize, Fox 31 Colorado reported.

“They said, ‘They’re having a maintenance issue. One of the doors isn’t sealing. We’re going to get it fixed.’ Everyone’s getting a headache. The babies in front of us and behind us are all screaming bloody murder, and my daughter is just telling me, ‘My ears aren’t popping.’ And I’m just feeling like my head is in a soda can being crushed,” Arielle Alvarado-Pond, a passenger aboard the flight revealed.

According to Alvarado-Pond, people became physically ill after the flight failed to pressurize. She described several people vomiting at the front of the plane. When they finally reached the ground and were boarded onto a separate plane, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and announced that the second plane wouldn’t be leaving the tarmac, as it had an oil leak. The airline promised hotel vouchers to those who were stranded, but the passengers aboard the flight reported they never received them.

“I spent my entire Christmas at the airport. I am never flying Frontier again. That was horrid,” said Alvarado-Pond.