SEOUL, South Korea: A Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan had to return to Incheon Airport, west of Seoul, after experiencing a sudden depressurization.

The incident occurred on a Boeing 737 Max 8, the transport ministry reported on June 25.

Nineteen of the 133 people on board the June 22 flight were sent to hospitals with ear pain and nosebleeds, but none sustained serious injuries.

The cause of the depressurization is currently under investigation by both the airline and the ministry. The aircraft has been grounded, and South Korea’s transport ministry has ordered all 11 of the country’s airlines to inspect the pressurization systems in their 400 aircraft. The depressurization happened about 50 minutes after the flight departed.

In a separate incident, Malaysia Airlines reported that one of its flights to Bangkok on Monday had to return to Kuala Lumpur due to a “pressurization issue” with the Airbus A-330. Pilots initiated an emergency descent, even though the aircraft had not reached the altitude of 8,000 feet and oxygen masks were not deployed. Flight MH780 was carrying 164 passengers and 12 crew members. An investigation into this incident is also underway.

The Boeing 737 Max has a troubled history, with previous crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, resulting in 346 fatalities.

These incidents led to the grounding of the aircraft worldwide for more than a year and a half. Concerns over the 737 Max resurfaced after a panel blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, although no serious injuries were reported in that incident.

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