A Korean Air plane flying from Seoul to Taiwan's Taizhong suffered a failure at cruising altitude and the pilots were forced to suddenly descend. In just a few minutes, the plane descended about eight kilometers, several times faster than passenger planes usually do. After landing, several passengers of the plane were taken to hospital because of this.
The incident occurred on Saturday at around 5:40 p.m. local time, but the media only reported it a few days later. 50 minutes after takeoff from Seoul Airport, the plane bound for Taichung Taiwan A Korean Air Boeing 737 Max 8 was suddenly forced to return to the departure airport. An alarm went off on board informing about a failure of the pressure control system. At an altitude of over 10 kilometers, at which the plane was then, there was a risk of running out of oxygen for the passengers. Therefore, the pilots were forced to suddenly lower their flight.
According to Channel News Asia, the Boeing descended 26,900 feet, or over eight kilometers, in less than eight minutes – many times faster than passenger planes. Due to the failure and rapid change in pressure on board, the oxygen masks were released, which further aggravated the passengers' stress. The children on board started crying, and the passengers began to suffer from ear and headache pain, reports Channel News Asia.
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Failure on board a Korean Air plane. 13 people were hospitalized
After a rapid descent, the machine leveled off and safely returned to the take-off airport after about two hours in the air. Of the 125 passengers on board, 15 still complained of headaches and ear pain, and 13 of them were taken to a nearby hospital. Their injuries were not serious, notes Singapore's The Straits Times.
Korean Air “sincerely apologized” to its passengers for “any inconvenience.” It also said an investigation into the crash had been launched and that the airline planned to conduct additional inspections of the plane once it was complete.
Channel News Asia, The Straits Times
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