An American passenger caused quite the chaos on a US Airways commercial flight from Philadelphia to Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic after joking "I have Ebola! You are all screwed!"
The unidentified 54-year-old man, who was reported to have been coughing during the flight, also yelled out, "I've been to Africa," reported Fox News Latino as flight 845 landed on the Caribbean island.
In the video provided below that was shot by a fellow passenger, you will see the flight attendant addressing the passengers. During her quick statement, she says: "I've done this for 36 years, and I think that the man who has said this is an idiot, and I'll say that straight out."
You will then see passengers capturing the tense moment as emergency medical staff in blue hazmat suits board the plane with about 290 passengers, inspect the area of the supposed Ebola-infected passenger and remove him.
RT.com noted that the plane was immediately isolated upon landing in Punta Cana. "After conducting a medical check, the passenger was found not to be infected with the virus. Though he was coughing on the flight, he had no fever when he was inspected. He had never been to Africa, either."
"We delivered the passenger to the airline, which has its policy, but he will be returned to the United States, where he will be submitted to another rigorous check," quoted Diario Libre via RT of Walter Zemialkowski, the director of operations at the International Airport of Punta Cana.
The entire ordeal lasted about two hours, during which passengers were reportedly prevented from leaving as the aircraft was held on the tarmac.
"We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but the safety of our customers and crews is our main priority," quoted Fox News Latino of US Airways.
Paola Rainieri, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Grupo Punta Cana, said the joke was made in "poor taste."
"We don't know why he did it, but he thought it would be a cute joke that would not be so serious," she continued. "Thankfully it was only a scare."
Response to the careless joke was done at such a degree as the West Africa Ebola outbreak has already topped 8,000 cases and claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 people and continues to rise.
See the video from inside the plane below:
