70 passengers on an 11-hour flight from a tropical island paradise suffer vomiting and nausea in midair
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- A Condor flight from Mauritius to Frankfurt was met by emergency services because of mass illness.
- Seventy of the 290 passengers reported symptoms such as vomiting and nausea, Bild reported.
- Condor says it has intensified its cleaning processes as a precautionary measure.
A flight to Germany had to be met by emergency services after dozens of passengers started vomiting.
The Condor Airbus A330 was flying Thursday from Mauritius to Frankfurt, Germany — a journey that takes more than 11 hours.
The German outlet Bild reported that 70 of the 290 passengers on board reported symptoms including vomiting and nausea.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, a Condor spokesperson said "some guests on board became ill" and were cared for by the crew with "additional liquids and airsick bags."
They added that the airport arranged for emergency vehicles and medical staff to be on-site in Frankfurt, as is standard procedure.
Condor has started an investigation into the cause of the incident.
"As a short-term precautionary measure, Condor has adjusted its cleaning and loading processes for the current flights from Mauritius," the spokesperson said.
They added: "Additional and more intensive cleaning measures are currently being implemented for all objects and surfaces."
Such cases of mass illness can be caused by turbulence or bad food, as portrayed in the 1980 comedy "Airplane!" Incidents with dozens of people feeling nauseous may also have a psychological cause.
Last year, a Southwest flight had to abort its landing after bad weather caused turbulence so severe that several passengers began throwing up.
But the most infamous airline-vomiting incident occurred on a 1975 Japan Air Lines flight. During the flight, 197 passengers fell ill, and 144 of them were taken to the hospital. It was later found that some of the meals had been contaminated by Staphylococcus bacteria, which caused food poisoning.