5 passengers hospitalised after ventilation breakdown on plane

Montreal: Five passengers on an Air Transat vacation flight to Florida were hospitalized 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.

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 told AFP.

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.