- Passengers spot idle prop
- Flight attendant "screaming"
- In brace position for landing
IT WAS when they looked out the window that the fear set in.
Airline passengers braced for their lives when their flight made a sudden U-turn and they saw an idle propeller just "swinging in the breeze".
The Daily Telegraph reports passengers on the REX flight from Griffith to Sydney then spent a tense hour in a holding pattern before the plane made an emergency landing.
"You're up there with just one engine so you're just relying on it hoping nothing goes wrong ... it's a very unique experience," passenger Justin Sanson said.
"The landing was fine, nothing out of the ordinary except for the flight attendant screaming 'Heads down and stay down'
"It was a good feeling to hit the ground though."
The New Year's Day flight carrying 20 passengers and crew left Griffith airport shortly after 10am, with the only indication something was wrong coming from an "alarm noise" heard by passengers as the plane took off.
"We'd been in the air for a while and I was thinking it had taken us a while to get to Barellan (53km from Griffith)," Mr Sanson said.
"All of a sudden we did a 180-degree turn and I thought we were on our way back to Griffith.
"Then we looked out the window and saw the propeller just swinging in the breeze."
Mr Sanson said all passengers immediately assumed the brace position, assisted by cabin crew.
"We were in a holding pattern for about 40 minutes before attempting to make the landing, so they obviously were pretty confident in that engine," he said.
"Most people were pretty calm, it was a small plane so there were a few bumps but nothing too bad."
Another plane was sent to Griffith to carry the stranded passengers safely to Sydney.
A REX spokeswoman yesterday said the return to Sydney came after a "cockpit warning indication after takeoff".
"In accordance with company standard procedures, the pilot carried out an engine shutdown as a precaution," she said.
"The aircraft landed normally at 11.16 am and the 17 passengers and three crew on board were unharmed and alternative arrangements were made."