Kevin Carter/Getty Images
A Delta flight heading for Portland, Oregon was forced to land back at the departing airport on Sunday after the aircraft failed to pressurize, causing injuries to some passengers on board.
Passenger Jaci Purser told local news channel KSLTV that she felt her ear pop from the pressure in the cabin and a stabbing pain, after which her ear started bleeding.
"I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it," she told KSLTV.
A Delta spokesperson told Business Insider that the Boeing 737-900 aircraft could not pressurize above 10,000 feet, and oxygen masks failed to deploy.
The plane returned to Salt Lake City Airport, where paramedics treated affected passengers.
Purser told KSLTV she was diagnosed with a ruptured eardrum and that she is still feeling the effects of the injury.
"It sounds like I'm underwater when I talk. So it's like my hearing is so bad right now," Purser said.
Delta said 10 passengers aboard the flight to Portland had been identified as needing evaluation or treatment following the incident. The airline added that the plane's pressurization issue had been fixed as of Monday.
"We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on September 15. The flight crew followed procedures to return to Salt Lake City where our teams supported our customers with their immediate needs," the spokesperson said.
The Delta flight is not the only plane to suffer from pressurization issues this year.
In June, a Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan had to make an emergency landing after a fault was detected with the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane's pressurization system.
Data from FlightRadar24 shows the plane dropped nearly 25,000 feet in five minutes, with 17 passengers needing medical attention once the flight was on the ground.
