'Flight crew seemed clueless': Passengers describe terror on 'shaking' Malaysia Airlines flight
Passengers on a Malaysian Airlines flight forced to land in Alice Springs due to technical issues have described their fear, saying the crew were "clueless".
Flight MH122 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was close to the West Australian coastline when it was forced to divert on Thursday afternoon.
Passenger Sanjeev Pandey said panic broke out on board when the aircraft started making noises.
"It was very strange, I thought there was some turbulence due to the bad weather, but as the rattling started to get louder and louder everyone started to get scared," Mr Pandey told SBS News.
"The flight crew also seemed clueless about what was going on and there was no announcement from the captain, so it made the situation even more tense and confusing and everyone looked very scared."
Mr Pandey said he felt "relieved" when the pilot made the announcement they would be landing in Alice Springs, but said some passengers were crying and praying.
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Passenger Maryna Delport Evetts said engine problems had been blamed for the diversion.
"So just when you think this would never happen to you or it just happens in the movies, on our flight back home, four hours into the journey we had engine failure," Ms Evetts posted to Facebook.
"We turned back and we are now sitting at the Airport in Alice Springs. Not too sure when we will be leaving but hey ho, we are on terra firma.
"Not a good feeling 10,000 feet up in the air."
Malyasian Airlines said the plane was forced to land in the Northern Territory for "technical reasons" in a statement.
Chris Kanani, the husband of a passenger aboard, told ABC his wife described the experience as "hell".
"She said she was on the loo when she started hearing loud banging noises from the right-hand side of the plane and that's when all it started," Mr Kanani told the ABC.
"It was like hell this flight and they were told to be ready for an emergency landing."
Malaysia Airlines said safety was its number one priority, and it would provide more information on the technical issue when it was available.
