Passengers were terrified when they experienced very violent shaking while riding the twin-aisle Airbus A330-300 aircraft, on this AirAsia X flight from Perth, Australia to Malaysia.
Frightened passengers say they heard a loud bang followed by intense turbulence – which rocked the entire cabin.
Damien Stevens and friend Mitch Jamieson were passengers on their way to Myanmar for a holiday.
In this report by CNN, Stevens recalls the incident: “We were asleep and heard a loud bang around the 1-hour-and-15-minute mark.”
“It shook for the whole ride back, close on two hours,” he added. The passenger was referring to the return trip the plane was forced to make after the shaking began.
It’s unclear what could’ve caused the “technical issue” with the plane’s Rolls-Royce engines. Indeed any imbalance inside a rapidly-spinning jet engine can cause turbulence which would be felt throughout the aircraft.
The plane had to return to Australia to ensure the safety of the passengers.
“It was really shaky, very scary,” Stevens said.
Steven, like many of the other passengers, heard the pilot ask them to pray twice.
The pilot also instructed passengers to hold “the brace position” for about two minutes during the landing. According to Steven, the plane landed smoothly.
“The plane erupted with applause once we landed,” Steven recalls and praised the pilot. The pilot had shook hands with everyone after the flight was over.
Some passengers posted on social media about the harrowing experience they had during Flight D7237.
Watch this video taken while inside the terrifying flight:
AirAsia X Berhad had confirmed the events in a statement: Flight D7237 bound for Kuala Lumpur took off at 6:40 AM local time with 359 passengers on board and landed back at Perth Airport safely before 10 PM
“The pilot identified a technical issue with the engine. The plane turned around and safely landed back at Perth Airport,” a spokesman for the Perth Airport said.
“The safety of our guests is our utmost priority,” the airline added.
Watch this viral video for more details.
Sunday’s incident marks the second significant incident involving the jet’s Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine this month and the third since May.
Fortunately it appears that this incident may not be related to the previous issues. According to photos taken of the engine, the external structure of the engine nacelle (housing around the turbine blades) was undamaged.
A spokesman for Rolls-Royce released this statement: “We are aware of the incident and will be working closely with relevant partners to understand the cause of the issue.”
SOURCE: CNN, Daily Mail
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