Rapper Vanilla Ice tells of 'crazy' Dubai flight as plane is quarantined after passengers take ill

Nineties rap star tweeted about his experience of Emirates flight EK203 to New York

Vanilla Ice was among the 549 passengers aboard the troubled Emirates flight from Dubai to New York.     

It's been years since he was flying high in the charts, but rapper Vanilla Ice is back in the headlines as the most famous passenger on the ill-fated Emirates flight from Dubai to New York.

Twenty-five years after his last big hit, Vanilla Ice - known for his chart-topper Ice Ice Baby - was quoted on news sites across the globe after tweeting about his experience on flight EK203, quarantined at New York's JFK airport on Wednesday morning after reports that dozens on board were sick.

The 50-year-old - whose real name is Robert Van Winkle - told his 347,000 followers of the "crazy" drama unfolding on his flight.

So I just landed from Dubai and now there is like tons of ambulances and fire trucks and police all over the place pic.twitter.com/i9QLh6WyJW

— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) September 5, 2018

“This is crazy. Apparently there are over 100 people sick on the bottom floor, so happy I’m up top, it’s a double-decker plane 380,” tweeted the rapper.

Vanilla Ice took footage of the emergency response from his plane window.

The performer was in Dubai as a guest speaker at an event hosted by entrepreneur JT Foxx on Tuesday.

The Emirates flight to New York from Dubai was isolated after passengers became ill during the journey.

Speaking at a news conference, Dr Oxiris Barbot, acting commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said it was likely the stricken patients had contracted influenza.

This is crazy. Apparently there is over 100 people sick on the bottom floor, so happy I’m up top, it’s a double-decker plane 380

— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) September 5, 2018

According to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the typical incubation period for influenza is between one and four days, with the average being two days. Otherwise-healthy adults can infect others before they develop symptoms.

The CDC first said about 100 people complained of symptoms but it is thought many were members of the ‘worried well’ - people who do not need treatment but who visit doctors for reassurance.

In an updated statement the CDC confirmed 11 people were taken to hospital. The remaining passengers were discharged.

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