Glasgow uni student in Ebola scare

The entire plane was quarantined


A terrified Glasgow student was left panicked after a fellow passenger was taken into quarantine at Glasgow Airport yesterday.

Finance student Kelly Li was flying back from New York with a connecting flight from Amsterdam after visiting her boyfriend.

Kelly recalls the captain’s announcement upon landing in Glasgow: “There are some issues, we can’t let you off the plane, we’re waiting for an update.

“There is a potential health problem on this plane.”

The connecting flight from Amsterdam landed at Glasgow airport and confused passengers were swiftly told of an “immigration health risk”.

The 22-year-old began to panic as they were looking for someone from the connecting flight from Amsterdam she was on.

“I was really scared because I was the only Asian on the plan. I was thinking: Is that me?

“We were on the plane for two hours, the captain just kept apologising and saying he didn’t know what was going on.

“I was scared, I thought I was going to get deported and I had a class that afternoon.

“I didn’t make it because I couldn’t get off the plane.”

Unlucky Kelly wasn’t even supposed to be on that flight in the first place: “I missed my other flight and had to pay £180 transfer fee.”

For the other passengers on the plane, the wait was long. Kelly says the atmosphere on the plane was one of confusion: “We just didn’t know what was going on.

“I think they were a little scared too.

“A few staff I think from the airport got on the plane and went over to a man who I’d seen in Amsterdam airport.

“It was very strange they didn’t have on masks or protective suits.

“The man was blind, he needed help getting on the plane. The staff ask him his name and they talked for a while before they escorted him off the plane.

“The captain eventually implied that the hold up was due to an Ebola scare but he didn’t say that directly.

“Basically they just took off one person then let us get off the plane.

“It was quite an interesting experience.”

Passengers were made to sign a form with their personal details promising  if any symptoms emerged within the next 21 days they should phone the emergency services straight away.

But Kelly says: “I feel fine.”

And she’s even starting to see the funny side: “I paid £180 to be quarantined and I didn’t even get my luggage until this morning.”

“If one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong.”