Travellers feared for their lives yesterday afternoon when they were told to “brace for impact” during a rough flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia Airlines’ MH122 was flying near Broome in Western Australia when passengers heard a loud noise from the side of the A330-300.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the sound, which lasted for up to 10 minutes, prompted pilots to turn the aircraft around and fly to Alice Springs Airport for an emergency landing.
Stopover in the desert…
Malaysia Airlines 122 #malaysiaairlines #alicesprings pic.twitter.com/D3aoO4fwRZ— Resin Moon (@ResinMoon) January 18, 2018
Although Malaysia Airlines said in an online update that the safety of those on board “was not at any time compromised”, guests told media that everyone was nervous, especially when staff played an emergency landing demonstration.
“They said there might be a crash landing. That made it even more scary,” traveller Sanjeev Pandey said.
“The flight attendants came to us and said ‘this should be the position of your head, lean forward’.”
Sanjeev Pandey
Sanjeev continued, saying some people were praying as the plane returned to Alice Spring, and were so grateful when they touched down safely that the entire aircraft erupted in applause.
Some passengers even took to social media to praise pilots for their skills and flight crew for remaining calm.
Smooth landing by Captain Azhar.. Thank you @MAS and crew.. #HailToTheCaptain #MalaysiaAirlines #MH2536 #HelloKuching pic.twitter.com/zXQu2zcd1g
— Nana Hussein Snelling (@NanaSnelling) January 18, 2018
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines assured the public in an online update that everyone on board was safe and accommodated with accommodation, meals and transportation as well as onward flights for the following day.
“Malaysia Airlines is also working very hard to reallocate passengers with onward connections on to the next available flights to their destination.”
Malaysia Airlines
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