An AirAsia flight from Perth, Australia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with hundreds of passengers onboard was forced to return to the airport after a technical issue caused it to shake violently.

Passengers recorded cellphone video showing the entire cabin of the Airbus shaking violently from side to side.

Many passengers described the plane’s shuddering like a washing machine.

There were 359 passengers onboard the Airbus A330 en route to Malaysia’s capital, for what was supposed to be a nearly six-hour flight. The shaking began around 90 minutes into the trip, after a loud bang was heard throughout the aircraft.

The captain of the plane issued a dire warning: “Also please, listen to everything. Our survival depends on your cooperating. Hopefully, everything will turn out for the best.” He also urged passengers to “say a prayer” on two occasions.

“Lots of people (were) crying,” one passenger said. “Lots of people (were) pulling out the life jackets and stuff, pretty much preparing for that sort of thing. We thought there was a good chance that we were going down.”

The frightening ordeal finally came to end when the pilot was able to land the plane back safely in Perth after about 2 hours.

(YWN Headquarters – NYC)