It was a frightening night for passengers on a British Airways flight, which was forced to make an unexpected stop in Vancouver after members of the cabin crew fell ill mid-flight.
At 11:30 p.m. the pilot of the British Airways flight 286, travelling from San Francisco to London, UK requested to make a priority landing in Vancouver.
The aircraft landed safely and was quickly met by emergency crews.
Vancouver Coastal Health says 25 crew members were taken to local-area hospitals to be assessed and some were treated for possible smoke inhalation.
No passengers were taken to hospital.
Passenger Dan Hemmings said he was watching a film when the plane turned around and he thought they were heading back to Calgary.
British Airways has not confirmed this is why the crew members were taken to hospital.
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Another passenger, Claire Moss, was seated on the top deck of the plane. She told Global News when the plane was diverting, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and said there was a technical fault with the plane, which was making people feel ill.
All of the crew members have now been treated and discharged from hospital.
WATCH: A British airways flight made an emergency landing in Vancouver because of a smell on board. As Robin Gill reports, no passengers were hurt but some of the crew members felt sick.
British Airways says it is in the process of arranging alternate flights for the 400 passengers on board, although passengers are getting frustrated and say not enough information is being shared.
“I had to pay for the hotel, I had to use my own card for that,” said Hemmings. “But they said I’ve got to sort all that out myself to reimburse it. It’s not what you need after all that.”
Passengers said they were told another flight would be leaving Vancouver at 10 a.m. Tuesday but when they arrived at the airport, they were told that is not the case.
“So we could have stayed at the hotel more, got some more sleep, got some breakfast so now we’re just waiting around in a queue to find out what’s going to happen,” said passenger Alex Higgins.
“It’s not cool. I just want to sleep.”
More to come.
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- B.C. First Nations declare state of emergency due to toxic drug deaths in communities
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- Vancouver police want to speak to possible witnesses in stabbing death near Chinatown
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