SALT LAKE CITY — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a Delta Air Lines flight leaving Salt Lake City last weekend developed cabin pressure issues and left some passengers with bleeding eardrums, headaches and bloody noses.
The flight was traveling Sunday from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, when pilots of the five-year-old Boeing 737-900ER aircraft noticed a pressurization problem and made an emergency landing back in Utah’s capital, according to the flight log.
Passengers told television station KSL they noticed people bleeding as the plane decreased in elevation over the Great Salt Lake. Pilots announced they were returning to the airport but did not explain why, passenger Caryn Allen said. Oxygen masks did not deploy.
Allen described watching her husband cover his ears in pain while other passengers tried to help a man on the other side of the aisle who had an uncontrollable bloody nose.
Another passenger, Jaci Purser, told KSL it felt like someone was stabbing her inner ear.
“I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it,” she said.
Paramedics met passengers at the gate and identified at least 10 people out of the 140 on the flight who required medical attention. They recommended that anyone who was bleeding go to the hospital for further evaluation, and Delta offered to cover those transportation costs, the airline said.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15,” Delta said in a statement. “The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs.”
The airline said the plane was taken out of service Sunday and went back into service Monday after technicians resolved an issue that made the plane unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet, Delta said.
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.