A Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan over the weekend had to turn back and make an emergency landing due to a plane defect.
Flight KE189, a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane, departed from Incheon International Airport at 4:45 pm local time, only to detect a problem with its pressurization system 50 minutes into the flight, reported South Korean outlet Yonhap News Agency.
The pressurization system is responsible for regulating the internal pressure on an airplane.
Around 40 minutes after the flight took off, the plane made a sharp descent, plummeting over 22,000 feet in seven minutes and another 4,500 feet in about six minutes before it stabilized, according to FlightRadar24. That’s an over 26,000-foot drop in around 15 minutes.
South Korea’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said that out of 125 passengers on board, 15 suffered from eardrum pain and hyperventilation during the drop, reported Yonhap News Agency. Among them, 13 were hospitalized.
One of the flyers was able to capture the plunge in an anxiety-inducing video.
The footage shows passengers wearing oxygen masks in the shaky airplane cabin.
Fortunately, travellers on the defective plane reached Taichung International Airport safely on Sunday on a different flight, reported Taipei Times.
A Korean Air spokesperson told Business Insider that 17 passengers were discharged without severe injuries after being evaluated at medical facilities.
They added that the plane is just under five years old and was delivered to Korean Air on July 22.
This isn’t the only recent travel horror story involving a Boeing aircraft.
In May, the commercial airplane manufacturer made headlines after a Singapore Airlines flight experienced severe turbulence, plunging around 7,000 feet. One passenger died of a suspected heart attack.
And of course, there was the Alaska Airlines incident in January, when a panel of a Boeing 737-9 aircraft blew out during the flight.