Blood-borne Illness on Flight? Feb 2024

[Ambergris]

Man dies mid-flight after breaking out in 'cold sweats' and losing 'liters of blood,' scaring his fellow passengers
Lauren Edmonds Feb 10, 2024, 2:19 PM GMT-5

A 63-year-old man died during a Lufthansa flight this week after losing "liters of blood' in a scene that terrified passengers.

The unidentified man boarded a Lufthansa flight from Bangkok to Munich with his wife on Thursday, according to Swiss-German outlet Blick.

Witnesses Martin and Karin Missfelder told Blick that they sat in the row diagonally behind the male passenger and his wife. Karin Missfelder said the man looked unwell when he boarded the plane.

Airline cabin
Airline cabin. iStock/Getty Images
"He had cold sweats" and "was breathing much too quickly," Karin Missfelder said in a translated quote. 

The man's wife said his breathing and appearance looked off because they rushed to catch the flight, but the symptoms worried the crew. Despite their initial hesitations, the crew allowed the man to remain on the flight.

Karin Missfelder, a nursing specialist at the University Hospital in Switzerland, told Blick that her concerns for the man persisted, prompting her to tell a flight attendant that a doctor should examine the man. At this point, the plane's captain arrived and briefly spoke to the man. 

"He then called for a doctor over the loudspeaker and a young, around 30-year-old man from Poland with poor English looked at the German," Karin Missfelder said.

Martin Missfelder said the doctor however did little to treat the man beyond checking his pulse and asking how he felt. Soon, the man's health drastically deteriorated.

"They then gave him a little chamomile tea, but he already spit blood into the bag that his wife held out to him," Martin Missfelder said. 

At one point, Martin Missfelder said blood gushed out of the man's nose and mouth. He said the man lost "liters of blood," some of which splattered onto the aircraft's walls.

"It was absolute horror. Everyone was screaming," Martin Missfelder told Blick.

Flight attendants immediately jumped in and attempted to resuscitate the man, Blick reported.

"It was dead quiet on board," Karin Missfelder said. 

Data from flightradar24, an online air traffic tracker, showed that the flight departed from the Bangkok International Airport at 12:07 a.m. before diverting back amid the chaos. Karin Missfelder told Blick the man, now dead, was carried into the galley as the plane returned to the airport. 

A Lufthansa representative confirmed the death to Blick. 

[Midnightmom]

I wonder if they will quarantine all passengers and crew from that flight until they know what killed him??? 

[Littlesister]

That would be a good idea to quarantine them till they know what it was that killed him.

[Mt_Rider]

Is this an intro to "disease X" .....the place marker name for the next pandemic? 

 

Gonna have some weirded-out folks getting off that flight.    I certainly would be!  Unless he had been poisoned....rather than a contagion.   

 

MtRider  ...not good. 

 

 

[Ambergris]

No quarantine. 

 

Here's from another article:

 

After the plane landed in Bangkok, it took 2 hours before anyone from Lufthansa showed up to assist.

Passengers were allowed to leave the plane. No discussion about isolation was overheard, raising the question about what the cause was for this passenger to have been spitting up so much blood.

Passengers received a $10 meal voucher, and some passengers were booked to Hong Kong to connect on another Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt.

No one at Lufthansa assisted the grief-stricken wife.
The deceased grief-stricken wife was left unattended by the airline and airport staff. She had to clear customs and immigration on her own, looking heartbroken, confused, and lost.

More than 30 passengers witnessed the event on board and were equally traumatized and were also left alone after this 2-hour wait.

A Swiss passenger told the Swiss news outlet Blick that he was expecting an apology or more from Lufthansa on how this emergency which should never have gotten to this stage was handled.

In a detailed statement, Lufthansa said:
“We confirm that on 8 February 2024, on flight LH773 (Airbus A380) from Bangkok to Munich, a medical emergency of a passenger occurred on board. 

“Although immediate and comprehensive first aid measures were taken by the crew and a doctor on board, the passenger died during the flight. After 1.5 hours of flight time, the crew decided to return to Bangkok, where the aircraft landed normally and safely.

“There, the instructions of the medical emergency services and the Thai authorities were followed. The passengers on this flight have since been rebooked on other alternative flights, as it has been canceled.

“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased passenger. We also regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers of this flight.”

Airlines have different policies in place on how to proceed after a passengers dies on a flight.

[Ambergris]

Another article:

 

Urgent health threat? Passenger drops dead mid-flight after 'liters of blood erupts from his mouth and nose’
by: Pat Droney 2024-02-10 Source: Law Enforcement Today Editorial
Editor note: There are a lot of questions still open surrounding this story.  At this time, our sources tell us that not a single one of the passengers was believed to have been quarantined - but rather went on to travel on other planes shortly after.

Although officials have not released ANY information about what caused the man's death - healthcare experts who are sources of Law Enforcement Today have raised concerns about exactly what it may have been - and encouraged us to read up about hemorrhagic fevers.  We'd encourage you to do the same.  Education is the best tool we have to protect our families - no matter what this turns out to be.

Bangkok, Thailand- A disturbing story in the New York Post tells of a passenger on board a flight from Thailand to Germany who suddenly had blood begin gushing out of his mouth and nose. That passenger died from the massive loss of blood. 

The passenger, a 63-year-old German man, boarded the Lufthansa Airlines flight in Bangkok shortly before midnight. According to sources, the man was visibly sick as he boarded the aircraft, with “cold sweats” and “breathing much too quickly,” according to Swiss German outlet Blick. 

Initial reports say the man’s wife claimed they had been in a rush to catch the flight, explaining why he wasn’t feeling well. 

However, that didn’t sit well with Karin Missfelder, a nursing specialist at the University Hospital in Zurich, who told a flight attendant that the man needed to be examined by a doctor. That led a young Polish man, who claimed to be a doctor, to examine the man, who asked the male how he was feeling. Told he was ok and only checking his pulse, the “doctor” claimed the man was okay. 

“They gave him a little chamomile tea, but he already spit blood into the bag that his wife held out to him,” said Martin Missfelder, Karin’s husband. 

That was only the beginning of the horrific episode, as blood soon started streaming from the man’s mouth and nose. 

“It was absolute horror; everyone was screaming,” Martin Missfelder said. 

Missfelder believed the man lost “liters” of blood, with much of it splattering on the cabin of the Airbus A-380. The man soon went into cardiac arrest, and flight attendants performed CPR for about a half-hour on the man, even as Karin Missfelder knew it was hopeless. 

After attempts to revive the man failed, the captain announced the passenger had passed away. The cabin crew carried him to the aft galley of the plane, and the airliner turned and headed back to Thailand. 

In a statement, Lufthansa Airlines praised the cabin crew and those who assisted the stricken passenger. 

“Although immediate and comprehensive first aid measures were taken by the crew and a doctor on board, the passenger died during the flight,” the statement read. 

“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased passenger. We also regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers of this flight,” the statement continued. 

According to flight data, the airliner departed Bangkok at 11:50 pm local time on Thursday and landed in Thailand at 8:28 am Friday. Passengers said they waited approximately two hours after landing back in Bangkok before getting rebooked on another flight to Germany. 

Kristin Missfelder regretted not intervening earlier, although it is unknown if that would have made a difference. 

“I should have intervened, but I saw that a doctor was looking after him, so I didn’t want to get involved,” she said, admitting that “the man looked so bad, I don’t understand why the captain took off.” 

Lufthansa was criticized for their handling of passengers, including the victim’s wife, after the incident. 

Martin Missfelder said Lufthansa staff left passengers to fend for themselves upon returning to Thailand. 

“She stood there all alone and apathetic and had to endure all the formalities,” Missfelder told Blick, according to the Daily Mail. The airline offered the traumatized passengers only the equivalent of a $12 voucher for their inconvenience. 

It is unknown what caused the sudden loss of blood of the victim. No further details have been released, including the name of the victim or if an autopsy was performed. 

[Littlesister]

If this was disease X or any other disease that could be contagious. All those passengers were exposed. Now they are scattered to who knows where. This is how pandemics get spread all over the world. So, I am guessing we will never know what this man died from. It will be hushed up like so many other things they don't want us to know. Pandemics with the proper info going out to the people could also help to stop the spread from going too far. But again, we may never know till it is too late.

[Midnightmom]

9 hours ago, Ambergris said:

“They gave him a little chamomile tea, but he already spit blood into the bag that his wife held out to him,” said Martin Missfelder, Karin’s husband. 

 

I believe this means she knew he wasn't out of breathe, etc, from "rushing to catch the plane."

 

("Initial reports say the man’s wife claimed they had been in a rush to catch the flight, explaining why he wasn’t feeling well.")

[Mt_Rider]

1.  This is horribly ignorant or on purpose...which one?   

2. With that much blood (if not greatly exaggerated) it is likely hemorrhagic something...  A bleeding out disease.   

3.  Although some places globally don't have sophisticated medical protocols....sheesh, even in biblical days they knew to stay away from folks with medical conditions.   

 

4.  The so-called "disease X" isn't a name of any disease.  It's what they're calling the so far, next disease that will become a pandemic.  Like the x and y in math.

 

And yeah, I would be getting to the nearest competent medical facility and ......or maybe I'd go to the nearest herbal / health food store?  If I was on that flight, I would have dug out my REAL mask (N95 or higher....yes I do travel with them) and clamp it on my face.  I'd cover my eyes with glasses and keep my head buried in a book.  Probably shower/wash hair....leave clothes at the door in a plastic bag.....

 

MtRider ....what else would you do in that situation be it airplane, train, store, ...?? 

[Littlesister]

I hope I am never in that situation. But it does give us all some food for thought. How to protect yourself from this type of issue is a good question.  N95 masks and safety glasses are a good start.  

[Jeepers]

I think those people were just selfish and didn't care about anyone else. Typical. They only cared about getting to their destination. The wife was probably using the air plane barf bag. Where is it? If there were splatters, then the blood wasn't just oozing out of the man. 

 

What sort of hemorrhagic fevers are in Thailand? Where else had he been. Where is his wife? Who was that 'doctor'?  Too many questions. 

 

Just thinking about the steps each passenger went through; deplaned into the terminal, boarded another plane, entered another terminal upon arrival, perhaps got a connecting flight to their destination involving another terminal, then get a ride home. Perhaps stopping someplace to eat. All in the same clothing and no shower. Times however many people who were on that plane. Then the same plane reloaded with passengers to make another trip. All the while the same air circulating around the plane. How many other other planes did each one of those people board until they finally made it home?  

 

I hope nothing comes of this but it is the perfect storm.

 

Me? I'd call for an ambulance explaining the situation and get into the hospital  ASAP.