Children vomiting, passengers turned away and dozens of no shows: Inside the terrifying evacuation flight from Wuhan to New Zealand
- 193 passengers arrived safely in New Zealand after being flown out of Wuhan
- Crews gave out face masks and hand sanitiser to passengers as a precaution
- One person was turned away and 60 people failed to show up to the flight
Children were vomiting and passengers were panicking on board the evacuation flight from Wuhan to New Zealand.
Almost 200 people wore facemasks on the 11 hour flight and cabin crew wore surgical masks and gloves.
Passengers liberally applied hand sanitiser and avoided contact during the ‘nerve-wracking’ journey.
Twenty-three Australians were on board and are currently being transferred to Christmas Island after the flight touched down in Auckland on Wednesday evening.
Passengers arrive at the Auckland international airport on Wednesday night
Ground crew were kitted out in serious protective gear as they checked passengers
St John Ambulance medical director Tony Smith, who was on the flight, said people were very stressed and children were being sick. Although none of the passengers were displaying symptoms of the coronavirus.
He also said that several people had failed the temperature test because they were wearing six or seven layers to protect themselves against China’s extreme winter.
‘So we put those people aside, we got the layers off, we waited half an hour, we re-measured the temperatures, and they had all come back down and they were all asymptomatic,’ he told Radio New Zealand.
The flight touches down at Auckland International Airport after departing from Wuhan, China on Wednesday night
‘And those people were very worried that they might not get on the plane.’
Chinese officials banned one person from taking the flight, and another 60 simply failed to show up with no explanation
When it touched down the 193 evacuees went through border control and medical screening before being loaded onto shuttle buses to be quarantined.
After touching down one of the passengers described the relief of arriving back in New Zealand, writing ‘home sweet home’ on Facebook.
Passengers were ushered into waiting shuttle buses with blacked out windows to take them to quarantine facilities in New Zealand
Several passengers aboard the flight posted on social media to announce their arrival on home soil
Another passenger, New Zealander Aaron Mahon told 1 NEWS everyone was excited to be home.
‘Everyone clapped when we landed, such a wonderful feeling,’ he said.
‘The staff are amazing, so personal and so helpful. Every person was so safe on the flight.’
However Sydney real estate agent Daniel Ou Yang wasn’t so positive about the experience.
Sydney real estate agent Daniel Ou Yang (pictured) documented the evacuation on social media, describing it as ‘nerve-wracking’
He documented the evacuation through social media, filming himself leaving Wuhan and sharing descriptions of the flight experience.
‘Everyone’s wearing masks, and it was nerve-wracking being around so many people in such close proximity,’ he said.
‘Everyone is just trying to avoid contact with each other as much as possible and constantly using hand sanitisers.’
But even he was happy to be on the long journey back to his normal life.
‘We’ve just touched down in Auckland and then we’re going to Christmas Island in quarantine. It’s not home but it’s definitely one step closer. It feels good.’ he said.