Flight horror as stewardess rushed to hospital after 'toxic fume leak' breaks out in cabin

Crew, meanwhile, felt poorly throughout the duration of Flight BA2204 before it eventually arrived in London at 7.54am on Wednesday.

One stewardess felt so nauseous and dizzy she was taken to hospital near Gatwick as a precaution.

Others on the Dominican Republic to Gatwick airport flight reported feeling sick, but did not require medical attention.

The twin-jet Boeing 777-200 was then examined by engineers upon arrival.

A source told The Sun: “It was the talk of the plane. The problem seemed to be towards the back of the cabin.

“Various people reported feeling ill, but one stewardess was so badly hit that she needed a hospital check-up on arrival at Gatwick.

“There were fears that the stewardess was ill due to carbon monoxide poisoning. It was a real worry.”

Carbon monoxide leaks have occurred on flights before, either through defects in the exhaust or cabin heating system.

Regulators have enforced the installation of active carbon monoxide detectors on certain piston-engine aircraft.

Campaigners have called for probes into toxic fume events.

There were 85 reported in just two months on BA jets in 2019.

Last July, a BA 777 declared a “full emergency” due to toxic fumes.

Flight BA2203 bound for Cancun had to circle London while it dumped fuel before it returned to Gatwick.

This comes as Airbus, the rival plane manufacturer to Boeing, faces a lawsuit from an American Airlines attendant who claims she became severely ill while working on the jet.

Tamar Ferrel filed a complaint against Airbus accusing the company of negligence, mentioning an incident on January 14, 2024 at Phoenix Airport.

She said the captain of the plane activated the auxiliary power unit and an odour of dirty socks spread through the cabin which caused people to cough and gag.

Mrs Ferrel now claims she suffers short and long-term health effects, and that a doctor compared her exposure to a “football player being hit in the head, but with chemicals”.

A British Airways spokesman: “A crew member on flight BA2204 was taken to hospital as a precaution after becoming unwell on board.

“The health and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our top priority and we are looking into what happened.”