A loud bang horrified passengers aboard an Air Asia flight Sunday morning as Flight D7237 hovered above the Indian Ocean.
It was the last thing frightened passengers en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Perth, Australia wanted to here.
Then the 359 people on-board heard the second-to-last thing passengers want to hear at 30,000 ft.
“I hope you all say a prayer,” the pilot reportedly said amid abruptly turning back when one of the plane’s engines failed 30 minutes into the five-hour trip.
The mechanical failure caused the Airbus A330-343 plane to violently shake for the duration of the return trip.
“Please pay attention,” the pilot said. “And also please listen to everything. Our survival depends on your co-operation.”
The flight was just minutes from entering open water between Australia’s northwest coast and Indonesia when trouble ensued.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgY10YMwCB4
“We all thought we were going to go down,” a passenger told 7 News Australia after landing.
Another added: “There were lots of people crying, lots of people pulling our their life jackets.
“We thought there was a good chance we were going to go down.”
Those on-board reported seeing metal chunks spilling from the faulty equipment as they white-knuckled their arm rests.
Air Asia Flight D7237 landed back in Perth an hour-and-a-half after alerting ground control to the emergency.
Passengers reportedly were given $20 vouchers while queuing for another flight.