JEDDAH: A jet liner carrying 359 people was forced to make an emergency landing after a suspected bird strike left passengers shaken.
Shortly after the AirAsia X flight had taken off from Gold Coast passengers reported hearing bangs and seeing sparks coming from an engine.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, passenger Tim Joga said: “The plane started shuddering then there were a couple of loud bangs and a lot of light,” the 31-year-old explained, adding that he heard about “four of five bangs,” before noticing flames coming out of the engine.
Flight D7207 had taken off from Gold Coast, bound for Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia at 10.50 p.m. on Monday.
But newlyweds, Malissa Siaea and her husband said they noticed something strange before the plane had left.
“It started making funny noises when we were getting ready for take off,” Siae said.
“About 20 minutes into the flight fire sparked out of the right-side engine… Then the plane swooped a little bit and started shaking badly.”
She said no one seemed to react initially until one man shouted out: “What the heck is happening?”
In a statement AirAsia X confirmed a bird strike was the cause, adding: “Two bird remains were found on the runway.”
The plane was rerouted to Brisbane where it made a safe landing. No one was hurt.
