Delta flight makes emergency landing after pressure issue makes passengers' noses, ears bleed

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A cabin pressure issue on a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Portland International Airport in Oregon forced the crew to make an emergency landing after 10 passengers suffered bloody noses and ears.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers for their experience on flight 1203 on Sept. 15," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. "The flight crew followed procedures to return to SLC where our teams on the ground supported our customers with their immediate needs."

The Boeing 737-900 was carrying 140 passengers when it returned to Salt Lake City and landed at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.

"Our ears just started hurting really, really bad. Everybody around us was grabbing their ears. People's ears started bleeding. People's noses started bleeding," Jaci Purser told CNN.

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

The Salt Lake City Fire Department, which met the plane, said there were no serious injuries and no one was transported to the hospital. Delta Air Lines offered transportation to passengers who wanted to seek additional medical care.

The 737-900 was taken out of service Sunday and the pressurization issue was fixed before the aircraft returned to service Monday.

Delta Air Lines provided another plane to get passengers to their destination.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.