(Seoul) The South Korean company Korean Air said on Tuesday it was investigating a pressurization incident on one of its Boeing 737-8s which left 17 passengers injured and forced the aircraft to return to its emergency location. departure.
The incident occurred on Saturday about 50 minutes after the flight from Seoul-Incheon to Taichung, Taiwan, took off with 125 people on board, a company spokesperson confirmed to AFP Tuesday.
Seventeen passengers had to be treated due to this pressurization failure, but did not suffer serious injuries, the company said.
“We are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities to shed light on the circumstances of the incident,” added Korean Air, which presented its “apologies to all those concerned”.
Last week, the CEO of the aircraft manufacturer, Dave Calhoun, recognized during a hearing before the US Senate the “seriousness” of the situation in this area.
In January, the cap door of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 came off in mid-flight, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.
The US Department of Justice warned in mid-May of a risk of criminal proceedings against the aircraft manufacturer for non-compliance with an agreement reached in January 2021 after the crashes in 2018 and 2019 of two 737 MAX 8s, which had 346 deaths in total.