A Flight Was Grounded After 100 People Fell Ill, And Vanilla Ice Was There

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Yesterday at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, an unusual occurrence happened. A plane, which recently arrived from Dubai, was quarantined on the runway while several police officers, ambulances, fire trucks, medical professionals and safety officials arrived at the scene. It was a serious quarantine, one where 100 people were reportedly held at bay for public health concern reasons. And caught up in the midst of this medical emergency was none other than Vanilla Ice. The '90s rapper-turned-actor was in the middle of the pandemonium, and he walked away with a hell of a story to tell.

Here's how Vanilla Ice explained it through his social media feeds, via USA Today. In the midst of traveling between Dubai and New York in the self-contained air vessel, upwards of 100 people got sick in the travels. The illness was spread quickly enough (as diseases are wrought to do) that medical experts and safety professionals were asked to report on the runaway, and the plane was held into quarantine until they could safely and effectively evacuate the passengers inside the aircraft. This rabidly spreading illness must have not caught up to Vanilla Ice, as he was reportedly not ill inside the plane. But he did capture video of all the people gathered outside the plane, and he updated his followers -- and, subsequently, the watching world -- about everything that was happening in real time. What a time to be alive. Here's the video that Vanilla Ice captured from outside the plane, providing an update to all his followers and calling the whole situation "crazy." Indeed, it was a pretty wild run of events.

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Sometimes, you have to sit back and remember that we live in a strange, strange world. This incident is a classic example of such a scenario, but we're glad Vanilla Ice is reportedly okay after this terrifying ordeal. As for why Vanilla Ice was able to remain illness-free during this travels, he believes it's because the plane's two-deck model made the illness spread towards the bottom deck, while the top deck (which is where he was traveling on the aircraft) remained unaffected by the sickness below them. That's not officially confirmed, but that's what Ice believes in a social media post from Twitter.

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As for the illness itself, it's unclear what it was and what the condition of the sick passengers is at this time. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 100 people, including a couple crew members, found themselves with a cough in their throat, as well as a fever for some boarders. At this time, there are 19 people who are reported to be sick after this airplane ride.

We should expect more medical updates about the plane passengers in the next couple hours, but it's safe to say that this 14 hour flight is one that Vanilla Ice isn't going to forget anytime soon. Meanwhile, we'll continue to keep you posted on the latest celebrity updates right here at CinemaBlend.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.