Passengers caught up in a mid-air emergency on an AirAsia flight from Perth to Bali didn't know what was happening because most of the onboard announcements weren't in English and became increasingly terrified as staff panicked.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has begun an investigation into Flight QZ535, which the pilot suddenly dropped to a height of 10,000 feet after the cabin depressurised 25 minutes into the journey on Sunday.
The crew were screaming, and looked tearful and shocked, prompting several passengers to say goodbye to each other, while Perth woman Leah texted her family because she thought she was going to die.
"We looked to them (crew) for reassurance and we didn't get any," Clare Askew told reporters at Perth Airport.
"We were more worried because of how panicked they were."
AirAsia has apologised for the incident, which forced the pilot to turn around and bring the 145 passengers back to Perth.
The ATSB has categorised the incident as serious and estimates its investigation will be complete in May.
It follows an incident in June when an AirAsia flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur had to return because of an engine malfunction, which the ATSB is also investigating.
Oxygen masks fell and passengers were told to get into the brace position, causing panic, while the pilot told everyone to pray, saying "I will be saying a prayer too".
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