PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ535 from Perth to Bali suffered a major scare today when it made a sudden drop from 32,000 feet to 10,000 feet, forcing it to turn back due to a “technical issue”.

The massive drop in altitude caused oxygen masks to drop from the compartment above the passengers, who were naturally terrified with some turning to the cabin crew for reassurance but in vain, PerthNow reported.

The news portal reported some of the 145 passengers on board the flight as complaining that the crew were no help at all when the emergency situation occurred.

“The panic was escalated because of the behaviour of staff who were screaming, looked tearful and shocked.

“We looked to them for reassurance and we didn’t get any, we were more worried because of how panicked they were,” passenger Clare Askew was quoted as saying.

The three-hour 45-minute flight departed Perth at 11.35am and was about 25 minutes into its flight, while still over Western Australia, when the mid-air emergency occurred.

The flight then turned around and returned to Perth, where passengers later boarded another aircraft provided by the low-cost carrier for the flight to Bali, Indonesia.

Another passenger, interviewed by 7News, said that the pilot did not come on the PA system until after the flight had made the turnaround.

Some passengers said they had feared the plane would crash, and got on their phones to send messages to their family.

“I actually picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it. We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting,” a passenger Leah was quoted as telling Nine News.

There have been no report of injuries to passengers or crew.

AirAsia Indonesia later said in a statement that its engineers at Perth Airport were investigating the aircraft.

“The safety of our guests is our utmost priority. AirAsia Indonesia apologises for any inconvenience caused,” the airline said.

PT Indonesia AirAsia, which is based in Tangerang, is jointly owned by PT Fersindo Nusaperkasa (51%) and Malaysia-based AirAsia Investment Limited (49%).

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/10/15/airasia-flight-qz535-in-mid-air-scare-drops-22000-feet/