A Jet Airways flight turned back on Thursday after pilots forgot to turn on a switch that maintains optimal pressure in the cabin during ascent, causing some passengers to start bleeding.
About 30 of the 166 flyers aboard the Boeing Co. 737 aircraft from Mumbai to Jaipur suffered bleeding in their noses, and some in their ears, and forced the plane to return, according to a statement from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi.
The carrier said it has taken the cockpit crew off duty pending an investigation into the incident.
“Jet Airways regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests,” it said in a Twitter post.
The crew of flight 9W 697 failed to flip the “bleed switch,” because of which cabin pressure couldn’t be maintained, causing oxygen masks to deploy when the aircraft was gaining altitude, the nation’s aviation regulator said.
India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a Twitter post that 30 of the affected passengers have been treated for the bleeding, and asked the DGCA to file its report immediately.
Mumbai-based Jet Airways, which reported its biggest quarterly loss since 2015, is seeking to raise funds and pare debt as part of a turnaround plan it announced in August.
The carrier is among those struggling to make money in the Indian market, where competition has driven fares below cost. It has said salary payments to pilots will be staggered over two installments each month for three months.
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