© Toby Melville / ReutersA British Airways Boeing
Airline spokeswoman Michele Kropf confirmed 25 people were transferred to local hospitals after BA Flight 286, en route from San Francisco to London, was forced to land in western Canada.
However, she insisted smoke inhalation was not the cause of the problem, according to Reuters.
"Just to clarify it was not an emergency landing," a statement from British Airways read.
"The flight from San Francisco diverted to Vancouver after members of the cabin crew became unwell. The cabin crew were checked as a precaution at local hospitals before being discharged."
"Our ground team at Vancouver has arranged hotel accommodation for the customers and will book them on alternative flights as soon as possible," the airline said.
The flight had been due to land at London Heathrow's terminal 5 this morning.
A statement released by Vancouver International Airport at around 11:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. GMT) said the jet "landed safely" with medical personnel on the scene to assist.
Around 400 passengers were on board but none required medical treatment.
I don't think I've ever seen that many cabin crew on a plane at one time. Certainly not in the last 15 years. The planes I've flown on are so under-staffed that even first class can have a tough time getting service. even if you can actually spot a crew member you're unlikely to get them to make eye contact or acknowledge a call signal.
And while I'm ranting, hasn't the ratio of bathrooms per number of passengers gone way down in that same 15 or 20 years? For kids and old folks that gotta go when they gotta go it can be a pretty bad experience waiting in a long line for the one or two loos available.
On the lighter side, I find it astonishing that cross country flights don't seem to cost much more than they did 20 or more years ago. If prices kept up with real inflation I would expect prices to be several times higher than they are.