The flight has to return to Mumbai.
Published: Thu 20 Sep 2018, 7:44 AM
Updated: Thu 20 Sep 2018, 5:11 PM
At least 30 passengers on a Jet Airways Mumbai-Jaipur flight suffered ear and nose bleeding due to low cabin pressure during the ascent here on Thursday, an official said.
Several passengers complained of severe headaches and at least 30 reported bleeding from nose and ears and were immediately administered first-aid by a team of doctors at the airport.
"The 9W 697 Mumbai-Jaipur flight was turned back to Mumbai after take off as, during the climb, crew forgot to select switch to maintain cabin pressure. This resulted in the oxygen masks dropping. Thirty out of 166 passengers experienced nose and ear bleeding, some also complained of headache," Lalit Gupta, deputy director general, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was quoted in the Hindustan Times.
According to a tweet on ANI, the plane had to be turned back to Mumbai mid-air after take off.
Some passengers also complained about headache. They are being treated at Mumbai airport.
According to Flightradar24 aviation tracking site, the plane stopped climbing at 11,000 feet (3,350 meters) before returning to Mumbai.
People on board posted photos and videos of the calamity online, with one purported passenger, Darshak Hathi, uploading footage on Twitter showing travellers using oxygen masks.
"Panic situation due to technical fault in @jetairways 9W 0697 going from Mumbai to Jaipur," he tweeted.
"Flight return back to Mumbai after 45 minutes. All passengers are safe including me," he added.
India's Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a tweet it had sought an "immediate report" from official agencies.
Five travellers who suffered bleeding and were rushed to a Mumbai hospital were suffering from mild deafness that would take some 10 days to recover, a doctor told reporters.
The incident is the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents for the airline, which like other Indian carriers has been suffering financially.
In January, two Jet Airways pilots were grounded for getting into a brawl and storming out of the cockpit briefly during a New Year's Day flight from London to Mumbai.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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