Five passengers fall sick minutes after boarding following ventilation breakdown during plane's de-icing

Montreal: Five passengers on an Air Transat vacation flight to Florida were hospitalised on Thursday after falling ill just before takeoff from Quebec City, which an official blamed on a ventilation breakdown during the plane’s de-icing. [caption id=“attachment_5960451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Air Transat. Reuters[/caption] The jetliner immediately returned to the airport gate and 185 passengers and six crew disembarked from the Airbus A321 bound for Fort Lauderdale, airline spokeswoman Debbie Cabana said. Two of the passengers complained of “vomiting, dizziness and sore eyes,” and five of them were sent to hospital for tests and treatment, she said. The rest were scheduled to board another Air Transat flight in the late afternoon.