Virgin passengers 'weren't in danger' as plane's engines stop mid-flight

Virgin Australia is under investigation after both engines in one of its planes momentarily stopped mid-flight last week.

The airline insists passengers were never in danger, but safety authorities have labelled it as a “serious incident”.

The Virgin ATR-72 was on a 90-minute flight from Sydney to Canberra last Thursday, descending through heavy rain at over 3000 metres when both engines “flamed out”.

A flame-out happens when the fire in the engine’s combustion chamber goes out, cutting power to the propellers, possibly caused by rainwater.

Both engines automatically re-started and the plane landed normally, but not before circling overhead as the pilots made sure everything was OK.

“The passengers on board probably didn’t notice a single thing, because the engines re-started within five seconds,” aviation expert Geoff Thomas told 7 News.

“It’s an incredibly rare event, and these engines are designed to take intense rain, and hail.”

The plane is back in service after being deemed safe by engineers.

While Virgin confirmed the flight landed safely and there was no customer impact, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau labelled it a “serious incident” and will carry out a thorough investigation.