Shock turned to frustration at Perth Airport as passengers caught up in a mid-air drama struggled to rebook flights.

On Sunday, a "technical issue" forced an AirAsia X flight bound for Kuala Lumpur to turn back one-and-a-half hours into the trip.

A passenger reported hearing a loud explosion in the left engine before the plane started to shudder, with another traveller saying it felt like being in a "washing machine".

According to some on board, the captain urged passengers to "say a prayer" and assured them he would be praying too, to get them home safely.

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Many remained stranded at Perth airport until late Sunday night.

A special replacement flight to Kuala Lumpur was scheduled to leave Perth about 8:30pm, and finally departed at 11:40pm for Kuala Lumpur.

They landed, exhausted this morning, with one woman reporting a long wait for staff to assist with temporary accommodation.

AirAsia's morning flight out of Perth has also been delayed.

Passengers flying AirAsia at Perth Airport this morning said they had heard of the troubled flight yesterday, but were not too worried.

Joe Kenney believed the chances of it happening again so quickly would be rare.

"It won't happen two days in a row will it? I hope not, but I'm a Catholic and I can pray," he joked.

Another passenger, Angus, told the ABC he was a bit shaken.

"I already have a trepidation of flying so it adds to my anxiety a little bit," he said.

Hamidah, who was flying to KL to see her relatives, was also worried.

"I don't know why on earth I'm flying with Air Asia, God be with us," she said.

However, a group of four young women, missionaries on their way to Cambodia, said they had no fear of flying with the airline.

"We've got great faith in God that he'll keep the plane in the air," they said.

"We know how to pray, so we've got the flight covered."

Some passengers who had missed connecting flights told they ABC they had been left to their own devices.

'You need counselling'

Yesterday, Rasool Zareie and his family were trying to get home to Iran.

He had been offered a $20 voucher to spend at the airport and two nights' accommodation in Kuala Lumpur, but had not been given any indication of when he would be able to get an onward flight.

Rasool Zareie (left) said his family was left shaken by the ordeal. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

"We were standing in queues for three and a half hours," he said.

"When I asked them, 'What should we do?', they had nothing to say. That was very annoying."

He also said he was unhappy at the lack of support being provided by the airline after Sunday's ordeal.

"In this kind of situation you need counselling," he said.

"My daughter was so scared. We went through a difficult situation, it was so intense."

Another passenger, US citizen Samantha Fox, had opted to completely change her travel plans rather than fly with Air Asia again.

"I'm going to stay here for a little bit and then go to Hawaii instead," Ms Fox said.

"It's the unease about that particular route and the airline."

She was optimistic she would be given a refund.

US citizen Samantha Fox says she's confident she'll get a refund for her flight. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed it would investigate Sunday's incident, saying it had received reports of one engine shutting down mid-flight.

A spokesman told the ABC the bureau had already requested access to the plane's flight data recorders.

He said the airline would be notified straight away of any immediate safety issues affecting its fleet, otherwise the bureau will produce a report within 28 days.

A spokeswoman from AirAsia said the affected aircraft was still being assessed by their own engineers.

This morning's scheduled flight out of Perth was on a different aircraft in the fleet, she said.