A Malaysia Airlines flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur has been diverted to Alice Springs after it suffered "technical issues" in the air on Thursday afternoon, with passengers reporting a loud noise coming from the side of the plane.
Flight MH122, an A330-300, left Sydney Airport at 1.06pm and was meant to arrive at its destination at 6.30pm.
However, when the plane neared Broome on the coast of Western Australia, it turned back and headed to Alice Springs Airport.
The plane landed safely there at 5.48pm, Malaysia Airlines said.
Sanjeev Pandey, from Parramatta, was on the flight with two friends, all on their way to run a marathon in Mumbai.
They were sitting near the plane's left wing when they heard a noise several hours into the flight.
"There was a loud noise, then the plane started to shake a bit," Mr Pandey told Fairfax Media, from Alice Springs.
"The loud noise didn't stop for several minutes. It got louder and everyone was scared. All the flight attendants seemed nervous."
He said the noise stopped after about 10 minutes, and the captain made an announcement that the noise had been due to bad weather.
The pilot then said there was a technical issue, Mr Pandey said, and the plane turned around as passengers were shown how to "brace for impact".
"He said 'we are planning to return for assistance', then they had an emergency landing demonstration," Mr Pandey said.
"They said there might be a crash landing. That made it even more scary.
"The flight attendants came to us and said 'this should be the position of your head, lean forward'."
The mood in the plane's cabin was tense as it returned, with some people praying, Mr Pandey said.
When the flight landed safely at Alice Springs, the passengers clapped and cheered.
They then filed off to wait in the airport terminal, where they called loved ones as overnight accommodation was arranged.
"It was very scary. It was the first time I'd ever been in a very scary situation," Mr Pandey said.
"They have told us they will arrange another plane for tomorrow."
Another passenger, Madhu Alasyam, wrote on social media that he was "scared" when told to brace for impact.
"Kudos to pilot for safe landing in Alice Springs," he said. "The flight crew were very calm and thoroughly professional."
