Passengers report engine trouble as flight to Malaysia lands safely after being turned around 90 minutes into trip

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A pilot has turned around an AirAsia flight on its way to Malaysia and returned to Perth due to a technical problem with the plane.

The plane departed just before 7am (WST) on Sunday for Kuala Lumpur but the pilot identified a “technical issue” and decided to return to Perth, a Perth airport spokesman said.

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“Flight crew are taking precautionary measures to check the aircraft and some guests on board the flight will be transferred to the next available flight today,” AirAsia said in a statement on Sunday. “Other guests will be informed of the progress of the flight.”

The plane landed safely back in Perth at about 10am. “The safety of our guests are our utmost priority,” AirAsia said.

The ABC reported that one passenger had said the plane was shaking like a “washing machine” but that the crew had handled the situation very well.

“It was essentially the engine seized up I think, that’s what they told us anyway,” passenger Brenton Atkinson told the ABC.

“The whole thing, the plane started vibrating and shaking pretty bad, and we had to turn around and come back.”