What to Know
- Kalitta Air Flight 373: Departed Wuhan, China at 6:40 a.m. Wednesday (China time) -- estimated landing time 3:45 a.m. Wednesday (California time)
- Kalitta Air Flight 375: Departed Wuhan China at 8:51 a.m. Wednesday (China time) -- estimated landing time 4:17 a.m. (California time)
- An MCAS Miramar Cpatin confirmed one of the planes will land at the base between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday following a stop to refuel at Travis Air Force Base.
One of two planes that departed Wuhan, China, Tuesday evening en route to the United States landed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Wednesday morning.
The two flights, Kalitta Air flights 373 and 375, were contracted by the U.S. government to bring U.S. citizens stuck in China amid the coronavirus outbreak back to the United States, MCAS Miramar Captain Matt Gregory said.
Both planes arrived at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield before 5 a.m. One refueled and took off en route to MCAS Miramar, landing just before 9:30 a.m.
Passengers disembarked from the plane more than a half-hour after touch down. They were subject to a 14-day quarantine at the base managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The second plane would remain at Travis Air Force Base, according to a U.S. official. The passengers would deboard and remain in lodging at the base, also in quarantine for 14 days.
There are about 350 combined passengers on the two planes. Two more flights with about 500 more passengers are expected to leave Wuhan by Thursday.
The Pentagon chose four U.S. military bases to accommodate nearly 1,000 American passengers evacuating China. MCAS Miramar in San Diego and Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield were among them. The other two selected are the 168th Regiment Regional Training Institute in Fort Carson, Colorado and Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas.
"In support of Health and Human Services, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar will be temporarily housing American citizens in the process of returning from China," MCAS Miramar said in a press release Saturday.
San Diego mother Yanjun Wei and her 1 and 3-year-old children will board one of the four planes. The family traveled to China to celebrate the Lunar New Year with relatives but became stuck when the virus broke.
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Nearly 200 Americans are already being quarantined at March Air Reserve Base after being evacuated from Wuhan.
None of the Americans being housed in Riverside have shown signs of illness, but it can take up to two weeks for someone who is infected to get sick.
The viral outbreak began in China, where the death toll rose to 259 on Saturday. More than 11,900 people have been infected with the coronavirus globally, the vast majority of them on the Chinese mainland.
An order signed last Friday by President Donald Trump temporarily bars entry to foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the last 14 days, with the exception of immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Confirmed Coronavirus Cases
Source: NBC News, staff reports
