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Swine flu: passengers flying in to Heathrow from Mexico inspected on runway
Passengers flying into Heathrow from Mexico City were held on their plane for 45 minutes while health officials checked them for signs of the killer disease.
Two inspectors boarded British Airways flight 242 at the airport in west London to ask passengers and crew if they felt unwell.
Some disembarked still wearing the blue face masks - called tapa bocas in Mexico - that are now being worn as a precaution by many in the central American country where the outbreak is feared to have killed dozens.
But there were fears that people could have brought the disease into the UK and had not yet developed symptoms.
Swine flu, which according to one expect has the potential to kill 120 million worldwide, can be carried for up to a week before its effects begin to show.
As they emerged after more than an hour's delay, holidaymakers told of the panic the illness has caused in Mexico and their concerns that they could still be affected.
Saleem Choudhry, from London, was returning from his wedding in Mexico.
He said: "I was lucky because we got married the day before the president declared it was an epidemic.
"A lot of people are not going to work because they are worried about spreading it, but most people are calm."
Alistair Dixon, 24, from Grimsby, has been working in the capital as a teacher with the British Council for seven months.
"It's a major thing over there and seemed to happen almost overnight," he said.
"A lot of people wear masks anyway because of the pollution but suddenly everyone was wearing them.
"I knew I was coming home so wasn't too worried but among friends there was a little bit of panic.
"All the schools were closed and they were handing out masks on the Metro and buses."
He said he was asked to fill in a questionnaire at the airport in Mexico and the plane was boarded on the runway in London by health workers from the port authority.
"They went through the plane asking people if they had any of the symptoms and a couple of people put their hands up but they seemed happy to let us go."
Alina Strong, 50, from Caversfield in Oxfordshire was visiting her mother for her 70th birthday and was met at the airport by her husband Laurence.
She raised concerns about the handling of passengers, claiming staff were not thorough enough given the potentially devastating implications of the disease.
"People were wearing masks over their mouths but not their noses and on the plane they were taking them off to eat which I would have thought defeats the purpose," she said.
"They made us write our details on the back of our ticket stubs in case they needed to contact us but then didn't take them in the end.
"It can take three to seven days to develop depending on your immune system so we could all have it and they're just letting us go. It's ridiculous."
Passengers flying into Heathrow from Mexico City were held on their plane for 45 minutes while health officials checked them for signs of the killer disease.
Two inspectors boarded British Airways flight 242 at the airport in west London to ask passengers and crew if they felt unwell.
Some disembarked still wearing the blue face masks - called tapa bocas in Mexico - that are now being worn as a precaution by many in the central American country where the outbreak is feared to have killed dozens.
But there were fears that people could have brought the disease into the UK and had not yet developed symptoms.
Swine flu, which according to one expect has the potential to kill 120 million worldwide, can be carried for up to a week before its effects begin to show.
As they emerged after more than an hour's delay, holidaymakers told of the panic the illness has caused in Mexico and their concerns that they could still be affected.
Saleem Choudhry, from London, was returning from his wedding in Mexico.
He said: "I was lucky because we got married the day before the president declared it was an epidemic.
"A lot of people are not going to work because they are worried about spreading it, but most people are calm."
Alistair Dixon, 24, from Grimsby, has been working in the capital as a teacher with the British Council for seven months.
"It's a major thing over there and seemed to happen almost overnight," he said.
"A lot of people wear masks anyway because of the pollution but suddenly everyone was wearing them.
"I knew I was coming home so wasn't too worried but among friends there was a little bit of panic.
"All the schools were closed and they were handing out masks on the Metro and buses."
He said he was asked to fill in a questionnaire at the airport in Mexico and the plane was boarded on the runway in London by health workers from the port authority.
"They went through the plane asking people if they had any of the symptoms and a couple of people put their hands up but they seemed happy to let us go."
Alina Strong, 50, from Caversfield in Oxfordshire was visiting her mother for her 70th birthday and was met at the airport by her husband Laurence.
She raised concerns about the handling of passengers, claiming staff were not thorough enough given the potentially devastating implications of the disease.
"People were wearing masks over their mouths but not their noses and on the plane they were taking them off to eat which I would have thought defeats the purpose," she said.
"They made us write our details on the back of our ticket stubs in case they needed to contact us but then didn't take them in the end.
"It can take three to seven days to develop depending on your immune system so we could all have it and they're just letting us go. It's ridiculous."
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