Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was among the passengers on board an American Airlines plane that was quarantined in Nashville early Thursday. That plane has since "been cleared" and the passengers allowed to leave, according to WZTV.
Here are the latest updates:
Update 9:10 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: Huckabee thanked American Airlines employees for their professionalism in a tweet Thursday morning.
“Kudos to @AmericanAir pilot and crew -- handled medical issue on red eye from LAX to Nashville very professionally,” Huckabee wrote. “We were held for a while as medical personnel made sure the person wasn’t Gwyneth Paltrow from Contagion. Seriously, hope the lady is okay -- taken on gurney.”
Airport officials said in a statement released to The Tennessean Thursday morning that American Airlines Flight 1289 was quarantined as a precaution because of fears that a passenger's recent illness might still be contagious. The plane has since been cleared and all passengers released, according to multiple reports.
Officials did not identify the illness.
Update 8:40 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: Nashville International Airport spokesperson Shannon Sumrall said in a statement released to The Tennessean that passengers were held Thursday morning on American Airlines Flight 1289 as a precaution because of a passenger's recent illness.
Sumrall told the newspaper that a physician “medically cleared” the passenger ahead of the flight, but that the passenger did not have paperwork to confirm his or her health.
"(The passenger) was talking bout the recent illness and other passengers on board became worried of exposure," Sumrall told The Tennessean. "For safety, passengers were held by BNA (Nashville International Airport) Police until contact was made with the physician to confirm clearance, which it was."
Officials did not identify the illness.
Update 7:52 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: The American Airlines passenger who appeared to be ill "has been cleared," WZTV reports. The passengers are now off the plane, the station said.
Original report: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is on board an American Airlines plane that has been quarantined in Nashville, WZTV reports.
Flight 1289, which traveled from Los Angeles to Nashville overnight, was detained at Nashville International Airport after a passenger appeared to be sick, an American Airlines spokeswoman told the news station.
Huckabee tweeted about the incident early Thursday.
"5 hr red eye flight on @AmericanAir Nashville from LA. On ground for 40 min and now told someone on board is sick & we are being towed to other gate and quarantined until all checked out. Can't get up to go to bathroom or get off plane. It's the Russians! I just know it!" he wrote just after 6:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.
"1 hr after landing got to far away gate where @AmericanAir will hopefully get us off this plane! Medical [personnel] at gate. Hope it's not because I got that straw in CA," he added.
According to WZTV, "the plane was taken to a remote portion of the airport where emergency personnel were waiting for the plane." Those on board were instructed to stay put as a Vanderbilt Hospital doctor examined the patient.
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