Vanilla Ice was among the passengers trapped when an Emirates flight from Dubai became quarantined on the runway at John F. Kennedy airport Wednesday.
The rapper and home renovation TV personality began documenting the scary experience on Twitter, writing “tons of ambulances and fire trucks and police” had surrounded Emirates Flight 203 upon its arrival.
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So I just landed from Dubai and now there is like tons of ambulances and fire trucks and police all over the place pic.twitter.com/i9QLh6WyJW
— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) September 5, 2018
The heavy emergency response was enacted after about 10 passengers and crew members reported feeling ill. According to CBS New York, after the plane arrived at Terminal 4, it was met by the Centers for Disease Control and Port Authority police.
“So I just landed in New York coming back from Dubai and now I’m stuck on the runway with like 1000 police, ambulances, fire trucks, this is crazy,” Vanilla Ice wrote in a second tweet.
So I just landed in New York coming back from Dubai and now I’m stuck on the runway with like 1000 police, ambulances, fire trucks, this is crazy. //t.co/U2ejDUmIUa
— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) September 5, 2018
Upon its arrival and staging at a hard stand area, emergency medical response teams investigated the cause of the illness, which was later said thought to be caused by food poisoning. A government source briefed on the situation claimed that there was no evidence of a security or terror issue.
“This is crazy,” Vanilla Ice tweeted again. “Apparently there is over 100 people sick on the bottom floor, so happy I’m up top, it’s a double-decker plane 380.”
This is crazy. Apparently there is over 100 people sick on the bottom floor, so happy I’m up top, it’s a double-decker plane 380
— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) September 5, 2018
It had initially been reported that up to 100 persons aboard the flight had reported feeling ill, with the CDC issuing a statement, though the number was later corrected. It has since been reported that 10 crew members and passengers were transported to a Jamaica Hospital in Queens, while nine others who showed symptoms had refused treatment.
Speaking to The Blast, Vanilla Ice claimed that passengers had been informed during the flight that “here are some passengers that are ill so we are going to go out on the runway and hang out” and that he “didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” However, after landing, both floors of the plane were sealed off and first class was removed “at a separate entrance.”
The fiasco caused the “Ice Ice Baby” singer to miss his connecting flight to Florida, though he claimed that he is feeling fine.
