Air France flight to Detroit had to be rerouted because a Congolese passenger got on “by mistake”
US authorities redirected an Air France flight to Detroit after a Congolese passenger got on board despite travel and entry restrictions linked to Ebola.
On Wednesday, an Air France flight from Paris to Detroit had to go to Canada because a passenger from the Democratic Republic of the Congo got on board even though the US had emergency travel restrictions in place because of the Ebola spread in central Africa.
After finding out that the passenger shouldn’t have been allowed to board, US Customs and Border Protection said it took “decisive action” by stopping the plane from arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
The passenger should not have been on the plane because of entry limits put in place to lower the risk of the Ebola virus, a CBP spokesperson said in a statement.
Air France reported that Flight 378, which was supposed to go from Paris to Detroit but was sent to Montreal instead at the request of US authorities. It arrived at Montreal Trudeau International Airport just after 5 p.m. ET. The airline said that there was no health emergency on board during the trip and that it followed all international aviation and border rules.
“There was no medical emergency on board, and Air France, like all airlines, has to follow the rules for entering the countries it serves,” an Air France representative said.
The detour happened just a few days after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new temporary entry restrictions for people who had recently been to South Sudan, Uganda, or Congo.
The restrictions are in place for people without US visas who have been to any of the three countries in the last 21 days, according to the CDC. The steps will likely stay in place for 30 days.
Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security also put out a notice in the Federal Register about new arrival rules. These rules say that flights carrying people who have recently traveled to the affected countries can only land at Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
It said that the rules applied to anyone who “has departed from or was otherwise present within” Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the 21 days before trying to enter the United States.
