It was one plane ride you would not want to be caught in - that was Qantas Flight 48 from Santiago, Chile, which landed in Sydney, Australia on Thursday afternoon.

Aboard the plane included 26 passengers ill with gastroenteritis. And between them and the rest of the travelers, they were sharing 8 toilets amid frequent vomiting of the sick tour group members in the 13-hour, 51 minute flight.

Qantas said the passengers were likely already ailing when they boarded the flight in Santiago. It clarified that the travelers became sick not because of the airline food, but due to food poisoning so the ailment was contained within members of the tour group.

After three hours on board, the passengers started to vomit, prompting the crew to move the affected travelers to the back of the plane so they could be near the four toilets.

One passenger described the scene in a tweet as "There is an en masse SPEWING going down at Sydney Airport. Im not even kidding one but. EVERYONE IS CHUNDERING!"

The New South Wales Health Ministry, in a statement, said the group developed
"vomiting and diarrhoea on the plane" which is consistent with norovirus infection.

Sixteen patients were brought to the hospital, 10 at the Prince of Wales Hospital and 6 at St George Hospital.

Because of the health risk the vomiting and diarrhoea one the plane could cause, the ministry gave Qantas a letter and factsheet about viral gastro to distribute to all departing passengers and advisory for the cleaning and cabin crew.

Unfortunately, Qantas failed to inform waiting family members of the 26 ill passengers of their condition and waited for hours for their kin to come out. They only found out what happened from the news.

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