AirAsia has apologised after a terrifying mid-air emergency forced the pilot to turn back a flight from Perth to Bali.
Flight QZ535 reportedly plummeted 20,000 feet 25 minutes into the flight from Perth on Sunday when a technical issue caused the cabin to lose pressure.
Passengers said they didn't know what was happening because most of the plane's onboard announcements weren't in English.
"The panic was escalated because of the behaviour of staff who were screaming, looked tearful and shocked," 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."
The flight returned safely to Perth and passengers were rescheduled.
The airline issued a statement apologising.
"The safety of our guests is our utmost priority," the airline said in a statement. "AirAsia Indonesia apologises for any inconvenience caused."
It's not the first incident for AirAsia.
In July, an AirAsia flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Brisbane after a birdstrike.
Just a week earlier, another AirAsia plane was made an emergency landing at Perth Airport after an engine malfunctioned 90 minutes into the flight to Kuala Lumpur.
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Comments
Don't you just love the minimising language from the airline? Plane plummets 20,000 feet, cabin pressure is lost, oxygen masks appear, staff panic, passengers are scared to death - and this is classed as "inconvenience". Nice try, but I bet the traumatised passengers don't buy the apology.