Passengers onboard an AirAsia Indonesia flight between Perth and Bali have spoken about a terrifying mid-air emergency and accused the aircrew of causing panic after the plane suffered a loss of cabin pressure.
Flight QZ535 was 25 minutes into the flight from Perth on Sunday morning when it reportedly plummeted 20,000 feet due to a technical issue.
Passengers said they did not know what was happening because most of the plane's onboard announcements were not in English.
"The panic was escalated because of the behaviour of staff who were screaming, looked tearful and shocked," one passenger, Clare Askew, told reporters at Perth Airport.
"Now, I get it, but we looked to them for reassurance and we didn't get any, we were more worried because of how panicked they were."
Other passengers said they had sent text messages to loved ones fearing they were going to die.
The pilot turned the plane back to Perth Airport where it eventually landed safely at 12:40pm, with no injuries to anyone on board.
The flight was cancelled and the 151 passengers were rebooked onto later flights to Denpasar.
AirAsia later issued a statement apologising to passengers.
"The safety of our guests is our utmost priority," the airline said in a statement.
"AirAsia Indonesia apologises for any inconvenience caused."
It is not the first safety incident for AirAsia this year.
In July, an AirAsia flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Brisbane after a birdstrike.
Just a week earlier, another AirAsia plane made an emergency landing at Perth Airport after an engine malfunctioned 90 minutes into a flight to Kuala Lumpur.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-...ring-mid-air-emergency-passenger-says/9054902
