During the normal course of a commercial plane trip, you might never actually hear the pilot’s voice at all. If you do, it’s typically to thank you for flying or a quick update on the estimated arrival time, but on a recent AirAsia X flight from Perth, Australia to Malaysia, passengers were treated to something quite different. After an engine malfunction caused the entire plane to begin to shake violently while in the air, the pilot took to the intercom to urge the 359 souls on board to pray for their lives and safe landing of the aircraft.
The flight, which was headed for Kuala Lumpur, took to the skies at around 6:40 local time and flew for over an hour without issue. It was then that the passengers reported hearing a loud bang, followed by an uncontrollable shaking of the entire plane. The airline has classified it as simply a “technical issue,” but in the multiple videos passengers posted to social media it’s clear that the situation was extremely frightening.
“I thought I might die,” one passenger posted to Instagram, along with a video of the incident.
The plane, an Airbus A330, managed to make an about-face and return to the Perth airport without further incident. The airline and safety regulators are currently investigating the malfunction, and the pilot was applauded for his efforts.
