An Air France flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Detroit has reportedly been barred from entering U.S. airspace after officials became aware of a ‘virus’ on board the aircraft.
Air France flight AF-378, which departed Paris at 4 pm on Wednesday, has been forced to divert to Montreal, where it is expected to land at 5:30 pm (local time).
DL8719 CDG-DTW
by u/believes_in_u in delta
According to a passenger who is on the flight, the pilots made an announcement to the up to 312 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 that “US authorities are not allowing us to land in Detroit.”
The passenger added that a flight attendant “mentioned something about a virus and they have masks on.” The passenger was flying on a Delta Air Lines codeshare with Air France.
Representatives from Air France, Delta Air Lines, Montreal Trudeau International Airport, Customs and Border Protection, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been contacted for comment.
It’s likely that the diversion is connected to an emergency order issued by the CDC on Monday, which prevents most travelers who have been in three Central African countries, currently in the grip of a worrying Ebola outbreak, from entering the United States.
In its emergency order, enacted under sections 362 & 365 of the Public Health Service Act, the CDC has banned non-US citizens who have been in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, or Uganda in the last 21 days.
U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and lawful permanent residents are still permitted to enter the United States even if they have been in one of three countries in the last 21 days.
On May 17, a U.S. doctor who had been treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tested positive for the deadly Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
The doctor was evacuated to Germany, rather than the United States, for emergency medical treatment as part of a cooperation agreement between the State Department and German authorities.
According to the World Health Organization, there are currently no vaccines or specific therapeutics available to treat the Bundibugyo strain. In previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, fatality rates have ranged from 30% to 50%.
The outbreak has currently been identified in DRC and Uganda, although Air France does not fly to any of the three countries identified in the CDC emergency order.
Air France does, however, fly to Kinshasa in the neighboring Republic of Congo, which is very close to the border with DRC.
This is a developing story.
