Cathay Pacific insists there was no fire on a flight out of Perth that made an emergency landing, saying passengers who thought they saw flames were actually seeing light from an engine failure.
Flight CX170 departed for Hong Kong just before midnight on Thursday but a defect in one of the Airbus A330's engines caused it to divert to Denpasar, where it was met by firefighters.
Passenger Joel Sirna said there was a loud bang, followed by flames.
"Mid-flight, we heard a loud bang and the plane started to shake, all the lights went out and I looked to the window and have just seen some flames and some sparks - the wing and the motor was on fire," he told Perth radio station 6PR on Friday.
But Cathay Pacific said there was no engine fire.
"We can confirm that what witnesses saw was a light due to the engine failure, not a real fire," the airline said in a statement.
"There was no fire on board.
"Fire services met the aircraft on arrival as a precautionary measure."
The airline said all 254 passengers and 13 crew were safe and unharmed.
Mr Sirna said the view out the window was a scary sight.
"There were a few screams," he said.
Some passengers were highly distressed by the mid-air drama, which unfolded not far from the Bali coast.
"There were a few people that were pretty shaken," Mr Sirna said.
"The girl next to me started freaking out and crying.
"As soon as we touched down and landed, there was just a big applause from all of us."
Mr Sirna said the passengers had to wait onboard for about two hours while the decision was made about how to get them off.
Cathay Pacific said the passengers were being provided with hotel accommodation and assisted to take other flights to their final destinations.
Mr Sirna, who will continue on to New York as planned with the rest of his group of six, took to Facebook to describe his ordeal.
"F***ing shit start to the holiday," he wrote.
Cathay Pacific extended its apologies to passengers for the inconvenience and is investigating the incident.
