PORTLAND, Ore. — A Delta Airlines flight headed from Salt Lake City to Portland on Sunday morning turned around shortly after takeoff and returned to Salt Lake International Airport after it was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet, leading to a horrifying scenario for 140 people on board.
Two passengers told KSL, an NBC news station in Salt Lake City, that people's ears and noses started to bleed on the plane.
Jaclyn Blain, who was headed to Oregon for a work trip with several of her colleagues, said shortly after takeoff, she and her colleague started to hear noises and felt the plane dipping.
She said their ears started to pop and she noticed people around her were grabbing their ears and noses. Some were crying, others complained of vertigo and head pain. A baby was screaming from the pain, she said. Blain’s colleague told KSL it felt like she’d been stabbed in the ear.
"It was scary," Blain told KSL. "You just don't know what's wrong. (My colleague) put her finger in her ear and was like, 'Oh my god, my ear's bleeding.' And then they got my other colleague two rows behind me. I look back and he's in tears."
A representative from the airline said some passengers were met by paramedics at Salt Lake International Airport. According to USA Today, 10 passengers at the airport needed evaluation or treatment. Blain's colleague told KSL she was told at the hospital that her eardrum had ruptured.
The airline issued the following statement to KSL about the flight:
"Delta flight 1203 from SLC to PDX experienced a pressurization issue in-flight that resulted in an air return to SLC. Customers have been accommodated on another aircraft. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels. The safety of our customers and people remains Delta’s most important priority."
The airline also told KSL that oxygen masks didn't deploy. The plane, a Boeing 737-900ER, was taken out of service Sunday and went back into service Monday after technicians fixed the pressurization issue.
The Federal Aviation Administration told USA Today it's investigating the incident.
The Boeing aircraft involved in Sunday’s emergency landing is not part of the manufacturer’s newer MAX fleet, which came under investigation this year after a door plug blew off during a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines flight while the plane was at 16,000 feet over Oregon.
However, the FAA in late January recommended more thorough inspections of other Boeing aircrafts including the 737-900ER involved in the incident over Salt Lake City because it shares the same door plug design as the MAX jets.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
