Zaid tells AirAsia to hire ‘Imam’ after passengers told to pray

Passengers relate how AirAsia X captain on Perth to KL flight asked them to pray, saying he was praying too that plane will land safely, after engine trouble.

PETALING JAYA: A former minister has criticised AirAsia over the actions of its pilot in asking passengers on an aborted flight to “say a prayer” and for saying that he too would be praying in the hope that the plane lands safely.

Zaid Ibrahim was referring to the events surrounding AirAsia X flight D7237, which left Perth, Western Australia at 6.50am yesterday en route to Kuala Lumpur.

The flight returned to Perth shortly after take-off, according to a statement by the airline, which added the aircraft had landed safely at 10am. Perth and Malaysia are in the same time zone.

An explosion was said to have occurred on the left engine with one of the fans on the turbine having broken off. The plane was shaking like a “washing machine” according to some passengers who were contacted by Australian media.

But what surprised many passengers was the flight captain telling them to pray the plane landed safely back in Perth.

“He (the flight captain) said: ‘I hope you all say a prayer; I will be saying a prayer too and let’s hope we all get back home safely’,” passenger Sophie Nicholas was quoted as saying by WA Today.

Zaid took to Twitter to first express his disappointment over this course of action by the pilot, saying, “AirAsia pilot urged passengers to pray on distress Perth flight. Good lord, I much prefer pilot don’t tell me death is imminent.”

The former defacto law minister then turned to sarcasm to mock AirAsia over the issue of praying, saying, “Pilot has to give hope, and leave the rest to God and the passengers. If AirAsia are big into prayers; engage proper Imam and priest.”

Passengers related the frightening experience on board after the plane suffered the sudden damage to the left engine.

“It was literally like you were sitting on top of a washing machine. It was essentially like the engine seized up I think, that’s what they told us anyway.

“We could see the engine out the window which was really shaking on the wing. Once we landed, we realised one of the blades had actually come off the turbine,” Brenton Atkinson told ABC News, adding the vibrations were far more than the standard turbulence which passengers are familiar with.

According to AFP, the incident was the second one this month involving an Airbus A330 in Australia. Previously, a China Eastern flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Sydney after a huge hole appeared in one of its engine casings.

Meanwhile, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it received reports of an engine shutting down mid-flight and was investigating the incident.

AirAsia X has arranged for a special replacement flight to Kuala Lumpur which departed at 11.40pm for Kuala Lumpur.

Many passengers were not happy with the support and services provided by AirAsia X after the plane landed this morning.

“In this kind of situation you need counselling. My daughter was so scared. We went through a difficult situation, it was so intense,” ABC News quoted Rasool Zareie, who was on the flight with his family, on the way to Iran. -FMT