Air Asia pilot tells Perth passengers to pray for survival as engine fails

Passengers on an Air Asia flight to Malaysia from Perth sat terrified in a violently shaking plane for almost two hours after what the airline is calling "a technical issue".

The twin-aisle Airbus A330-300 was forced to turn around after just 75 minutes when a loud bang was heard and the plane began to judder.

"The pilot identified a technical issue with the engine. The plane turned around and safely landed back at Perth Airport," a spokesperson told media.

That failed to capture the magnitude of the fear felt by a number of the passengers, with one man telling 7 News in Australia that people were crying and pulling out life jackets, expecting the plane to go down.

Another woman posted a portion of her flight experience to Instagram, where she explained she thought she "might die".

Incredible footage of the incident shows the pilot speaking to passengers over the loud speaker, telling them to "please pay attention and listen to everything".

"Our survival depends on you co-operating, and hopefully everything will turn out for the best," the pilot nervously told them.

A number of passengers also said the pilot asked those on the plane to pray on two separate occasions, and shook hands with every passenger after the flight had landed safely.

Passengers have since been given $20 vouchers, and been forced to line up for alternative flights.

Newshub.