FAA investigates after Delta passengers report bleeding ears and noses

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating after cabin pressure problems occurred on a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City last weekend, causing some passengers to experience eardrum bleeding, headaches and nosebleeds.

The flight was on a Sunday flight from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, when the pilots of the five-year-old Boeing 737-900ER noticed a pressure problem and made an emergency landing in Utah’s capital, according to the flight log.

Passengers told television station KSL that they noticed people bleeding as the plane lost altitude over the Great Salt Lake. The pilots announced they would return to the airport but did not explain why, said passenger Caryn Allen. Oxygen masks were not used.

Allen described watching her husband cover his ears in pain while other passengers tried to help a man across the aisle who was suffering from an uncontrollable nosebleed.

Another passenger, Jaci Purser, told KSL it felt like someone was stabbing her inner ear.

“I touched my ear, pulled my hand back and there was blood on it,” she said.

Paramedics met passengers at the gate and identified at least 10 of the flight’s 140 passengers who required medical attention. They recommended that anyone bleeding be taken to the hospital for further evaluation, and Delta offered to cover transportation costs, the airline said.

“We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on Flight 1203 on September 15,” Delta said in a statement. “The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC, where our teams on the ground assisted our customers with their immediate needs.”

The airline said the plane was taken out of service on Sunday and returned to service on Monday after technicians fixed a problem that caused the aircraft to fail to build pressure at an altitude above 10,000 feet, Delta said.

The Boeing plane involved in Sunday’s emergency landing is not part of the manufacturer’s newer MAX fleet, which was the subject of investigations this year after a door stopper came off at 16,000 feet over Oregon during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5.

However, in late January, the FAA recommended more thorough inspections of other Boeing aircraft, including the 737-900ER involved in the Salt Lake City incident, because it has the same door stop design as the MAX jets.