Passenger's joke about Ebola causes panic on airplane

There are several things you never want to hear a person say on an airplane, and right up there with "There's a bomb onboard" and "I'll be on this 12-hour flight with my teething infant" is "I have Ebola."

On Wednesday morning, a man allegedly told his fellow passengers on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, "I have Ebola, you are all screwed," Diario Libre reports. The plane was met at the airport by crews in hazmat suits, who followed "all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in place for airlines in response to the Ebola virus," the airline said in a statement. Two hours later, once it was certain the man had just been making an ill attempt at humor, passengers were allowed to get off the plane. Diario Libre says the man had not traveled to West Africa, and it was unclear if he had been charged with anything.

As this all came down, passengers whipped out their phones and started recording the situation. One videographer captured a flight attendant announce on the PA system, "It's gonna look worse than it is," followed by "I think the man who has said this is an idiot." --Catherine Garcia

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up