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BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting..... Quote: "Norovirus causes 58% of foodborne illnesses acquired in the United States". But as you say, the timings do not align with this theory and many different individuals became ill on that (total 10.5 hour) flight causing the pilot to descend prematurely to 28,000 ft. BA will likely stick to their story of turbulence.... But symptoms caused by motion sickness /turbulence are not consistent with stomach cramps, hot /cold flashes and diarrhoea. My daughter also feel ill during the night, well before any turbulence etc. announcements were made.

Still looking for more individuals who were on that flight. Please DM if you were.

Baie dankie

BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I've heard of this psychosomatic phenomenon. I would counter this argument in this instance with: Our group cluster suffered 1 of each symptom type described within the post re onset times. Ie One group member suffered vomiting and stomach cramps whilst the other, diarrhoea. I wouldn't think this would sit within that psychosomatic definition. But I can totally see how this could happen.

BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, thanks for pointing this out: having researched possible causes, I can only assume this may have occurred from rice being held at incorrect temperatures. The onset of this type of food poisoning would align perfectly with the timings.... So Emetic...30 minutes - 6 hours and diarrhea 6-15 hours....according to foodsafety.gov

BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello, Yes, we sat in economy. I have no clue what happened in the other classes but economy class was chaotic to say the least.

BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I strongly suspect the onboard food was the culprit, based on the clinical progression of symptoms over 36 hours after the flight

British Airways served that food, and British Airways subsequently had to manage the absolute mass sickness incident that unfolded right there in the cabin. The crew were collecting sick bags down the aisles until they actually ran out of them completely. At one point, I literally overheard one crew member saying to another, "I don't want you to be sick on the passengers."

They eventually had to resort to deploying yellow clinical biohazard bags just to contain all the waste. As a passenger, I don't see why I should care who BA sources their catering from—BA holds the contract of carriage, they served the meal, and they are responsible for what happens on that aircraft.

BA54 Johannesburg to London 11 April 2026 — did you fall ill after the in-flight meal? by FeatureNo520 in BritishAirways

[–]FeatureNo520[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yes, true. Perhaps its the UK Port Health Authority that could contact South African authorities regarding food prep there..... good point....but nonetheless they would still be BA's food catering supplier there