SIA flight delayed after family travelling with child with high fever refused to disembark

A girl was asked to disembark a Singapore Airlines flight en route to Beijing after she was found to have a fever of more than 38°C, but her family refused to comply.

Travel agency employee Mr Gao said the SQ800 flight was scheduled to take off at 1.05am, but was delayed till around 1.30am.

According to a report on Lianhe Wanbao, Mr Gao saw two flight attendants surrounding a seat near the girl the moment he boarded the plane.

"She had a cooling pad on her forehead and was having her temperature taken," said the 31-year-old, who also noticed that the girl looked uncomfortable despite being asleep.

As the girl had a fever of over 38°C, she was told to get an examination and could not board the plane. This was due to a concern of H79N cases.

"The family was unwilling to leave the plane and hoped they could wait till they had landed in Beijing before getting to a doctor. They were probably worried about accommodation and visa issues," said Mr Gao.

It is understood that the family had just returned from a vacation in Bali and were preparing to go home.

They were finally persuaded to leave the plane after 30 minutes, and were escorted out by security personnel.

The flight landed in Beijing at 6.50am.

Mr Gao praised the flight crew for their good attitude and service, who had also arranged alternative accommodation for the family and will monitor the situation to see if the family could board another flight.

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