Jet Airways passengers get bloody nose, ears because plane not pressurized

A
Jet Airways Boeing 737.

REUTERS/Amit
Dave

• Crew members on a Jet
  Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur in India
  forgot to press the bleed air switch, leading some passengers
  to report bleeding from their ears and noses due to low cabin
  pressure levels. 
• In a statement to Business Insider, Jet Airways said,
  “5 guests who were referred to a hospital for additional
  medical check-up accompanied by the Jet Airways’ Care team have
  since been released, post medical examination.”
• Cabin pressure is maintained manually by the crew
  throughout the flight in order for it to be comfortable for
  humans. When air pressure is lower, there is less oxygen
  available and the air itself becomes thinner and drier, which
  can
  cause bleeding from the ears and nose. 

A Jet Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing
after its pilots failed to pressurize the jet after take
off.  The flight crew on Jet Airways Flight 697 from Mumbai
to Jaipur, India forgot to press the bleed air switch, causing
five passengers to be hospitalized. Some passengers even
complained of bleeding from their ears and noses due to low cabin
pressure levels,  CNN reported. 

On September 20, 2018, Jet Airways Flight 9W697, a
Boeing 737 with 166 passengers and five crew members
onboard “made an air turn back due to loss in cabin pressure,”
Jet Airways said in a statement on
Twitter.

Indian aviation regulator — Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the incident was caused by an
error by the flight crew. 

“During climb, crew forgot to select ‘bleed switch’ due to
which cabin pressurization could not be maintained, and oxygen
masks got deployed,” the agency told CNN
affiliate
News18 India.

The flight crew have since been taken off scheduled
duties pending an investigation, the airline said on
Twitter.

The airline told Business Insider in a separate statement that
the “5 guests who were referred to a hospital for
additional medical check-up accompanied by the Jet Airways’ Care
team have since been released, post medical examination.”

“The airline will continue to offer necessary medical care
and attention to the concerned guests as required,” Jet Airways
said.  

Select Bleed, or engine bleed
air, is the switch which pressurizes an airliner’s cabin as
well as air conditioning.  

Modern jetliners can cruise at altitudes between 30,000 and
40,000 feet, levels with air pressure far less than what our
bodies are accustomed to. Cabin pressure is thus maintained by
the aircraft in order for it to be comfortable for humans. When
air pressure is lower, there is less oxygen available and the air
itself becomes thinner and drier, which can cause
bleeding from the ears and nose. 

The website FlightRadar tweeted out an image that shows the route
Flight 9W687 took before and after turning back to Mumbai. 

One passenger onboard tweeted out a video of the chaos that
unfolded once oxygen masks were dropped, due to the sudden loss
in air pressure: 

According to a statement from Jet Airways to Business Insider,
“144 of the 166 guests of the original flight traveled to
Jaipur via an alternative flight of the airline, while 17 of them
wished to travel at another point in time.”

Jet Airways also added that they are, “extending full
cooperation to the DGCA for the ongoing investigation of the
event.”