Mystery Illness Plagues Multiple Flights on Same Boeing 737 Max

On Friday, a Boeing 737 Max carrying 163 passengers from Vancouver to Houston experienced widespread illness among its passengers. Around 75 of the passengers on board were returning from a cruise, with approximately 30 of them falling ill with flu-like symptoms, including vomiting and nausea. The Mail reported that the cause of the illness was not confirmed, but it was speculated that it may have been due to exposure to a norovirus outbreak on the ship they had come from.

Following the incident, two subsequent flights scheduled to be operated by the same jet on Friday and Saturday were canceled. However, the aircraft departed from Houston again less than 24 hours after it landed there. United Airlines has not provided any comments regarding the incident to Business Insider as of yet.

This occurrence is not an isolated incident as another airline experienced similar issues within a month ago. A Condor flight from Mauritius was met by emergency services due to 70 passengers experiencing nausea and vomiting. The airline stated that they would make adjustments to their cleaning procedures following this event. Notable airlines have had similar incidents in the past, such as the infamous Japan Air Lines flight in 1975 where over 190 passengers fell ill with food poisoning caused by contaminated meals containing Staphylococcus bacteria.