Passengers suffer bloody ears, noses after plane fails to pressurize

Passengers from a major airline in the United States suffered bloody ears and noses after a pressurization issue on a flight.

The incident happened during a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City in Utah to Portland in Oregon on Sept. 15.

“We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15,” CNN quoted a Delta spokesperson as saying. “The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs.”

The passengers were accommodated on another aircraft.

The airline said its technicians fixed the cabin pressure issue on the aircraft and was returned to service the following day.

Jaci Purser, who was on a business trip, told CNN it felt like somebody was stabbing her in the ear.

“I heard some air come out and then it started bubbling," Purser said. "It sounded like my ear was bubbling, my right ear, and I touched my ear, and there was blood coming out."

Her colleagues and other passengers experienced the same.

"Everybody around us was grabbing their ears, people’s ears started bleeding, people’s noses started bleeding,” Purser said.

Another passenger Caryn Allen, meanwhile, told CNN affiliate KSL-TV that she noticed her husband putting his hands over his ears, "kind of leaning forward."

“I looked about a row behind me, over on the other side of the aisle," Allen said, "and there was a gentleman that clearly had a very bad bloody nose, and people were trying to help him.”

There were no serious injuries, CNN reported, but 10 individuals needed evaluation or treatment following the flight.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate what happened.