Source: Simon Hradecky | www.avherald.com

An American Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N272AY performing flight AA-728 from Philadelphia,PA (USA) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 154 passengers and 12 crew, was enroute at FL370 about 110nm east of Boston,MA (USA) when the flight crew donned their oxygen masks and declared a medical emergency reporting a number of passengers and all 9 cabin crew had become ill, there was an odour of dirty old socks on board. They were 3 pilots on the flight deck, they were all “A-Ok”. The aircraft turned around and diverted to Boston for a safe landing on runway 22L about 45 minutes after the decision to divert to Boston.

The airline reported the flight attendants were taken to a hospital and were later released. None of the passengers reported sick or required medical attention.

The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 16.5 hours, then positioned to Philadelphia.