A Utah woman is suing Delta Air Lines over a cabin pressurization issue that ruptured her eardrum and left her partially deaf, according to a new lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Jaci Purser, 43, was hospitalized along with at least 10 other passengers following the September 2024 incident aboard Delta Flight 1203 from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, her complaint states.
Purser, who owns a teeth-whitening clinic in the Salt Lake suburb of Jordan, says in her complaint that she “sustained permanent hearing loss” as a result, and that she has since undergone “substantial treatment which will continue in[to] the future.”
During a sudden ascent or descent, inner-ear pressure typically decreases while cabin pressure increases, causing the ear’s tympanic membrane to stretch. In extreme cases, changes in air pressure during a flight can cause eardrum perforation and, potentially, severe auditory impairment, according to experts.
While perforation is rare, some 10 percent of adults and 22 percent of children may experience some sort of damage to the eardrum from flying. The condition is known as ear barotrauma, barotitis media, and aerotitis media – also called “airplane ear.”
On the morning of September 15, 2024, the Delta 737-900 ferrying Purser and 140 others to Portland experienced a malfunction of the cabin pressurization system shortly after takeoff, according to her complaint, which was filed Monday in Utah federal court.
It says Purser “experienced extraordinary decompression for some 10 to 15 minutes,” which she described at the time as feeling like somebody was “stabbing her in the ear.”
Purser told local NBC affiliate KSL-TV that, as the aircraft gained altitude, she felt her ear pop, then bubble.
“I grabbed my ear, and I pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it,” Purser said.
Fellow flyer Caryn Allen said a passenger sitting nearby “had a very bad bloody nose.”
“There was a baby in first class, poor little thing was just screaming his poor head off,” a third passenger, Jaclyn Blain, told KSL.
Delta said the aircraft, which soon turned around and made an emergency landing back at Salt Lake City International Airport, was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet.
In a statement the carrier issued after the frightening episode, a Delta spokesperson said, “Customers have been accommodated on another aircraft. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels. The safety of our customers and people remains Delta’s most important priority.”
Purser’s suit accuses Delta of negligence for “fail[ing] to provide proper maintenance of the subject aircraft on which [she] was a passenger and allowing their passengers to enter and remain on board an aircraft with a dangerous condition long enough for… Purser to sustain bodily injury and permanent hearing loss.”
“The negligent acts and/or omission of [Delta] was the proximate cause of [Purser’s] injuries and emotional distress,” her complaint argues.
She is now seeking damages for medical expenses and lost wages, plus special, general and compensatory damages for pain and suffering, as well as loss of enjoyment of life, in an amount to be determined by a jury.
Delta did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
