Yellowstar - one can be certain that if a passenger becomes ill, and / or passes-away during a flight, '
Port Health' will be requested to meet the aircraft upon arrival at the destination - following which, at Port Health’s instigation, certain measures would have come to the fore.
Nb. What happens when pax become unwell / die in transit is not arbitrary but laid down in law.
This requirement, i.e. for Port Health, is annotated in most airlines’ manuals ( which, is something you should be fully familiar with ), e.g. the AEU Customer Services Manual says:
Passengers with infectious diseases including but not limited to chicken pox, measles, mumps, food poisoning, malaria and German measles will not be accepted for travel. It is recommended that passengers who have recently suffered from such conditions carry a doctor’s certificate to state that the condition is no longer contagious and that the passenger is fit to travel.
In the event of a passenger being diagnosed with an infectious disease or food poisoning during an Astraeus flight to the UK, it is a statutory requirement that we notify the Port Health authorities at the destination airfield.
The authorities may meet the aircraft on arrival to assess the passenger’s condition.
It is also a requirement that the cabin crew collect the names and addresses of all passengers aboard the aircraft so that the Port Health authorities have information relating to all passengers who may have been in contact with the infectious disease.
As it happens, Lassa fever has an incubation period of between one and three weeks wherein, in this instance, in spite of feeling unwell before he travelled ( his malaise being the reported reason for his wanting to return to the USA ), the unfortunate chap only checked-in to the emergency area of the Mercer Medical Centre 4 days after he had departed from Sierra Leone, whereupon he sadly passed-away on the 5th day after leaving SL.
During his travels he apparently made no complaint and / or exhibited little or no symptoms that might have caused the crew, of either aircraft ( AEU or Continental ), to be concerned ( which is precisely why Port Health at either LGW or EWR did not become involved ), i.e. nothing was untoward with the gentleman when he was in transit.
Accordingly, it was only after being admitted to hospital ( some days after arriving in the USA ) that his condition was fully diagnosed – wherein the local State Health Department contacted the USA ‘Centers for Disease Control’ who subsequently contact their EU/UK counterparts, etc..... and thus the whole ripple-down effect is promulgated to one & all who might have had contact, however miniscule their risk as a result of casual contact.
Nb. High risk exposure involves contact with bodily fluids, and there is
no indication – as reported by state health officials - that the man had symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea on either flight(s) or on the New Jersey transit train.
Remembering that millions of passengers travel on airliners every day, one has to say that the incidence of onward transmission of infectious diseases is remarkably low – which perhaps goes to show just how hard it is for such diseases to be passed onwards and is, no doubt, why the various medical and epidemiologist’s say as much about the risks.
Yellowstar, one feels bound to imply that your theatrical reaction to this seems to suggest somebody who really should get out more, either that or wrap yourself up in cotton wool within a hermetically sealed cocoon safe from all apparent risks - and certainly avoid the airline business.
In any event, life old son is risky - where nobody gets out alive !
- so enjoy the opportunities while you can.
Moving on, I really couldn’t give a toss getting an apology from you but, to answer your question about other airlines operating to SL,..... how about Sierra National ( Brussels ) - albeit that Astraeus have all but put them out of business - and I also seem to recall that Monarch Airlines hold Traffic Rights for the route and that at least two other UK charter airlines are hovering in the wings with applications – indeed the route is ‘niche’ enough ( no pun intended ) that a good many EU, USA and other countries airlines ( both charter and schedule ) are looking to obtain Traffic Rights – but then, being so knowledgeable about the airline business, you’d already be privy to this, wouldn’t you ?!
Good luck with the new job - who knows where you might end up.
Ps. (
hence the edit, and for typos ) It hasn't gone unnoticed that certain individuals here have used this poor mans death ( he was a father to six children
) as an excuse to berate their current / previous employer.
Needless to say, I'll leave it to the rest of you to deduce the likely character, humanity and integrity of these people.