Passengers injured as pilots forget cabin pressure check

PASSENGERS on a domestic flight in India suffered nose bleeds and ear damage after “pilot error” caused cabin pressure to drop dramatically mid-air.

A Mumbai to Jaipur Jet Airways flight had to turn back on Wednesday night when the cockpit crew failed to maintain cabin pressure, a Department of General Civil Aviation official said.

The aircraft – a Boeing 737 – had 166 passengers and five crew on board. Thirty passengers were injured. Five were sent to the Dr Balabhai Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai. The rest were given treatment at the airport’s sick bay.

The crew has been taken off duties and an investigation initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

An official at the aviation department told the Press Trust of India: “During the climb, the crew forgot to select a switch, due to which cabin pressurisation could not be maintained. As a result, oxygen masks got deployed.” Dr Rajendra Patankar, the chief operating officer of the hospital in Mumbai, said: “The patients were evaluated by our ENT consultant. They have suffered ‘barotrauma’ of ears due to change in air pressure.”

Jet Airways said: “All guests were deplaned safely” and that it would arrange new flights for the passengers.

The air accident bureau said preliminary information suggested it could be a case of the flight crew’s “negligence”, since cabin pressure control was a key part of pre-flight checks.

A passenger on the flight told the Hindustan Times: “Oxygen masks came out but no one gave us warning or instructions. They announced after 15 minutes that we’re landing but didn’t even tell us where. It was very scary”,

Satish Nair was another passenger. He later tweeted: “This wasn’t a little incident. You should be glad you weren’t on board. I was. It was the worst nightmare you can think of. I was almost blacked out.

“No staff to help… no announcement on board to wear the oxygen mask. Passenger safety completely ignored.”