Skip to main content

Don’t joke about ebola on an airplane or a hazmat crew will detain you

So a man walks onto an airplane and says, “I have ebola. You are all screwed!” The passenger next to him laughs uncomfortably, and says “Umm … You’re joking, right?” “No, I’ve been to Africa,” he cheerfully replies. Both laugh. Next thing he knows, the plane’s crawling with a hazmat crew and he’s getting tested for ebola.

The story sure sounds like the kind of joke you’d tell your friend over Sunday brunch, but it’s a real story. Apparently, the jokester never saw Meet the Parents. Remember when Gaylord Focker makes a joke about a bomb to a flight attendant and then gets questioned by the FBI?

One passenger on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, joked that he had ebola after he sneezed. The other passengers seemed completely unconcerned, realizing that it was a joke, but the airline staff sure didn’t take it that way. Shortly afterward a hazmat crew entered the plane in blue suits to escort the man from the plane. He was later tested for ebola and found to be healthy. Further investigation revealed that he’s never even been to Africa, the Diario Libre reported.

Nonetheless, all the flights’ passengers were detained for hours to make sure there was no trace of the disease. The entire debacle was recorded and uploaded on YouTube for all to see. You can hear passengers joking, watch them filming, and see the hazmat crew leading the man off the plane.

Editors' Recommendations

Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
YouTube to overhaul channel names with @ handles for all
Youtube video on mobile. Credits: YouTube official.

YouTube is launching “handles” to make it easier for viewers to find and engage with creators on the video-sharing platform.

The change means that soon, every channel will have a unique handle denoted by an "@" mark, "making it easier for fans to discover content and interact with creators they love," the Google-owned company said in a post announcing the change.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account in just a few easy steps
How to delete your YouTube account

Perhaps you're fed up with YouTube. If so, you've come to the right place. Our guide will show you how to delete your YouTube account (specifically its channel and content) in just a few quick and simple steps.

Before we start, it’s essential to acknowledge that although there are a few easy ways to delete your account, they're all permanent. These methods will remove specific aspects of your online history, which can never be retrieved again.

Read more
Searches for health topics on YouTube now highlights personal stories
The red and white YouTube logo on a phone screen. The phone is on a white background.

Google and TikTok aren't the only places people look for information on health issues. YouTube is another resource people look to for educating themselves on health-related topics. Now, YouTube has launched a new feature in an attempt to further support those queries in a different way.

On Wednesday, the video-sharing website announced its latest feature via a blog post. Known as a Personal Stories shelf, the new search-related feature will yield a "shelf" of personal story videos about the health topics users search for. Essentially, if you search for a health topic, a Personal Stories shelf may appear in your search results and it will be populated with YouTube videos that feature personal stories about people who have experienced the health issue you searched for.

Read more