Bloody noses and ears after Delta flight's cabin pressure malfunctions

A Delta Air Lines flight departed Utah's Salt Lake City International Airport at 8 a.m. on Sunday but was not in the air long, flying over the southeast part of the Great Salt Lake before turning around and landing back at the same airport about 30 minutes later.

The reason why for that early return was because of a pressurization issue on the airplane, which caused numerous people on board to experience bloody noses and ears. Some even suffered ruptured eardrums.

"We're having trouble stabilizing the pressure in the cabin"

On the flight, the captain told the passengers that the plane was returning to the airport because "we're having trouble stabilizing the pressure in the cabin," according to Jaclyn Blain, who spoke with KSL TV. The airline later confirmed that this was the reason, adding some specifics, including that the airplane could not pressurize above 10,000 feet, and apologizing.

However, initially, no Delta employees had stated why the plane was returning to the airport, leaving passengers to wonder why they were having the experiences that they were and about the cause for the plane making, according to Jaclyn Blain in an interview that she did with KSL TV, "all of these strange movements and sounds."

More specifically, it felt like, soon after takeoff, the engine "almost sounded like it shut off, like it just went quiet," before appearing to turn back on after the plane first dropped some in altitude.

Ruptured eardrums and other injuries

Jaci Purser said in an interview with CNN that "it sounded like my ear was bubbling ... and there was blood coming out." She added that "everybody around us was grabbing their ears" and that "people's noses started bleeding."

She also told KSL that she suffered a ruptured eardrum and that "it sounds like I am underwater when I talk" and "my hearing is so bad right now." Delta paid for her Lyft ride to the hospital for her to receive medical treatment there.

Caryn Allen spoke with KSL as well, saying that near her was "a gentlemen that had a very bad bloody nose, and people were trying to help him." She also said that she would have preferred more timely communication from Delta while aboard the aircraft.

Once Blain started experiencing popping in her ears, thinking that it was just her or maybe her and one or two others, she noticed that "everybody" was having similar experiences. There was also a baby "screaming his poor head off."

Blain added that two of her colleagues suffered ruptured eardrums and a third a bloody eardrum.

Ten people in total required medical evaluation or treatment after the plane landed back at the airport.