A total of 13 Korean Air flight passengers bound for Taichung, Taiwan, were sent to hospital after the aircraft experienced a sudden uncontrolled decompression 50 minutes into the flight.

Flight KE189 on Saturday (Jun. 22) departed from Incheon International Airport at 4:45pm (local time) with 125 passengers on board, Taipei Times and Yonhap reported.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was above Jeju Island when it encountered an issue with its pressurisation system.

The system is responsible for regulating the internal pressure of an aircraft.

"I really thought that this might be the day..."

A TikTok video, presumably taken from inside the flight, showed oxygen masks dangling from the overhead chamber.

The video indicated that shortly after meals were served, the plane started to descend rapidly "within minutes" like "riding a roller coaster".

The poster said that their ears began to hurt badly due to the supposed sudden descent.

"When I saw the oxygen mask dropping down, I really thought that this might be the day... I'm glad everyone is still alive and well."

@garygaryocpKorean Airlines KE-189 flying from Seoul to Taiwan... 13 passengers were sent to the hospital due to the incident... Passenger thought that it will be her last day on Earth...♬ original sound - Gary

Dropped from 35,000 feet to 9,000 feet within 10 minutes

Online flight tracker Flightradar24's data showed that the plane dropped from 35,000 feet to 9,000 feet within 10 minutes.

However, this detail was not reported in initial media coverage as it was likely pending confirmation.

The data showed the plane was cruising at about 35,000 feet at about 8:40am (UTC) and descended to 8,900 feet at 8:50am (UTC).

The flight returned to Incheon International Airport at 7:38pm (local time).

A total of 15 passengers suffered from pain in the eardrum and hyperventilation during the incident, Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reported.

Among them, 13 were sent to the hospital.

No serious injuries were reported.

Arrived at Taichung on Sunday

The airline arranged for passengers' accommodations for the night and scheduled another flight for the affected passengers.

A different flight took off at 10:30am on Sunday (Jun. 23) and arrived at Taichung International Airport at 12:24pm.

Top image via @garygaryocp/TikTok.