Passengers on a Malaysia Airlines plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Kuala Lumpur which was forced to land in the central Australian city of Alice Springs say they were bracing themselves for a possible crash after the plane shook violently.

Passenger Hugh Wolton told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the shaking lasted about five minutes before the captain announced plans for an emergency landing.

The airline said the Airbus A330-300 plane experienced a "technical fault" in one of its engines and the pilot decided to divert the flight.

It said Flight MH122, which been flying close to the Western Australia state coast, landed safely in Alice Springs and "safety was not at any time compromised."

The airline said passengers would spend the night in Alice Springs.