Sneeze forces plane to stop in Denver as passengers panic over coronavirus

A group of passengers on a flight forced the plane to be diverted after someone on board sneezed and appeared sick.

As fears about coronavirus grows, a United Airlines flight from Eagle, Colorado, to Newark, New Jersey, had to make an unscheduled stop in Denver on Sunday after passengers became disruptive because someone seated next to them appeared sick, according to the Associated Press.

“United 1562 from Eagle, Colorado to Newark diverted to Denver due to a small group of disruptive passengers on-board who failed to follow crew member instructions,” the airline said in a statement provided to KDVR. “After landing safely, the aircraft was met by law enforcement. The passengers were removed and the flight re-departed for Newark.”

Three passengers on the flight were fearful that a passenger was sick, Denver police told KDVR. Officials, however, said the person was just “suffering from allergies,” according to the Associated Press.

“There were three people who decided not to continue on the flight,” police spokesman Kurt Barnes told The Denver Post. “They did depart the plane voluntarily. They decided to seek their own means of transportation to get to their original destination.”

The allegedly sick passenger was screened on the plane, and did not have a fever, according to the Associated Press.

As far as health officials know, “nobody involved had COVID-19,” according to The Denver Post.

The FBI is investigating the incident, CBS4 reported.

This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Sneeze forces plane to stop in Denver as passengers panic over coronavirus."