Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

A sudden drop in pressure on a plane carrying 188 passengers to Majorca forced pilots to perform an emergency landing and left people suffering from earache and tinnitus.

The plane was travelling from Nuremberg, in Germany, to Palma de Majorca, in the Balearic Islands in Spain, but it had to perform an “unscheduled stopover” in Basel, in Switzerland, on the morning of Sunday, 12th June, according to Thomas Braun, a spokesman for Corendon Airlines.

For reasons that are still unclear, the Boeing 737-800, being flown by Turkish airline Corendon with flight number XR2271, had to perform the emergency landing after crew in the cockpit noticed a drop in cabin pressure, forcing them to reduce their altitude, the spokesman added.

Several of the 188 passengers on board complained of earache, with 37 of them reportedly having to be treated for tinnitus in Basel by medical crew.

Most of the passengers were able to fly on to Majorca that very evening on a replacement aircraft provided by the airline. However, some did not accept the offer, still according to be spokesman quoted in German media, although he did not provide an exact number.

Braun is quoted as saying: “Of course it’s a moment of shock.”

Braun reportedly said that all of the passengers, to the best of his knowledge, are doing well again.

The exact cause of the drop in pressure was not immediately clear and it is believed that it is being investigated.