Jet Airways air pressure drop incident: Passenger suffers permanent hearing loss; victims plan to drag airline to court

In the cabin pressure drop incident involving the Jaipur-bound Jet Airways flight from Mumbai on September 20, a passenger, Mukesh Sharma, has suffered permanent hearing loss. Passengers on board the Jet Airways flight bled from their nose and ears after the pilots forgot to switch on a crucial button that would turn on the air conditioning within the aircraft and maintain the cabin pressure.

Sharma was among the passengers who suffered bleeding during the incident. This month, during a check-up at a Jaipur hospital, he came to know he has suffered permanent hearing damage.

"The reports revealed that I have suffered a permanent hearing loss. There were a number of soft sounds I wasn't able to detect and unless a person is standing face-to-face with me and speaking, I am not able to listen to the words. While speaking on phone, I use my left ear as the right one is most affected," Sharma told the Hindustan Times.

Jet Airways flight 9W-697 had landed back in Mumbai within 30 minutes of taking off from the airport's Terminal 2 after 30 out of the 166 passengers on board started bleeding and complained of headaches. The pilots had not turned on the "bleed air" button upon achieving an altitude of more than 10,000 feet that would release air from the engine into the cabin meant for air conditioning. As a result of this lapse, the cabin pressure could not be maintained and oxygen masks were deployed.

As per the report, Sharma along with another person, Ankul Kala who was also travelling on the same flight, had suffered from barotrauma -- an injury that is caused by increased air or water pressure, such as during airplane flights or scuba diving. They both are undergoing treatment at Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

Sharma's life had taken a complete turn after the tragic incident. He is a PhD researcher from University of Aveiro, Portugal. Before the incident, he used to work in Portugal as a research scholar. But he left the job due to stress after the fateful incident. He told the newspaper he could not even apply for a post in the Portugal University. For now, he has taken up a post at Ajmer University as a chemistry professor. But the situation could get worse. Doctors told Sharma his hearing problem can't be addressed unless he undergoes a surgery, which could cost around Rs 6-7 lakh, including treatment and medicine charges.

Speaking and listening are two most important aspects of being a professor, he rued. Many other passengers who suffered mental as well as physiological damage due to the incident are now planning to sue the airline. Kala, a businessman from Jaipur and one of the victims, told the daily though the airline had asked them to submit medical bills for compensation, they declined to do so on the ground that there medical bills will be scrutinised by the airline knowing it was not their fault. "Compensation will be a part of our demands in consumers courts," he added.

Jet Airways has de-rostered both the pilots of the flight 9W-697 after the incident. And the Ministry of Civil Aviation had directed the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to investigate the incident.

Edited by Manoj Sharma