 Emergency responders in hazmat suits on US Airways flight 845 from Philadelphia to Dominican Republic after a passenger caused a health scare.YouTube 
 
 A joke by an American passenger traveling to the Dominican Republic caused panic among passengers and the airplane crew and caused authorities to isolate the plane for more than an hour on the tarmac. An unidentified passenger traveling from Philadelphia to Punta Cana yelled out, “I’ve been to Africa!,” just before US Airways flight 845 landed on the Caribbean island, an airport official told Fox News Latino. While airport officials would not identify the passenger, a video taken from the plane and posted online shows emergency personnel escorting an African-American man off the flight as the rest of the plane watches. Reached for comment, a US Airways representative confirmed the incident, saying in a statement that the flight was cleared by local authorities. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused but the safety of our customers and employees is our first priority," read the airline's statement. "I think the man that has said this is an idiot," she said.
– Airport authorities aren't willing to see the hilarious side of jokes about Ebola right now, a passenger flying from Philadelphia to the Dominican Republic discovered yesterday. After the coughing and sneezing passenger declared "I've been to Africa"—early reports said he yelled "I have Ebola!"—the plane was held on the tarmac for more than an hour after landing while emergency workers in hazmat suits removed the passenger from the plane, reports Fox. "I ain't from Africa," he protested as he was taken off the plane. "I think the man that has said this is an idiot," a flight attendant says in video of the incident, ABC reports. The passenger, who pleaded that he had only been joking, was booed by fellow passengers as he was removed, reports TMZ. An airport spokeswoman says that the airport had to take all precautions, though the incident turned out to be just a "joke of poor taste." Authorities determined that the man, who is being returned to the US, didn't have Ebola and hadn't been to Africa.