Passengers refuse to fly after AirAsia engine failure

by : FMT Reporters

A week after crash, another mishap for Indonesia airline taking off from Surabaya.

KUALA LUMPUR: An AirAsia flight departing from Surabaya suffered an engine failure just before it took off on Saturday night, according to local news media.

The plane, bound for Bandung, had been taxiing for 2 to 3 minutes before takeoff when the engine suddenly died, horrifying passengers, who heard a loud sound, Indonesia’s Metro TV reported.

It returned to the gate and the 120 passengers on board were asked to disembark while the plane underwent repairs, the station reported.

Passenger Yusuf Fitriadi told Metro TV that a man clad in pilots’ uniform told passengers waiting at the terminal that the starter monitor had malfunctioned.

“The plane was ready and moved, but suddenly a loud sound was heard, the sound of the engine disappeared and the plane moved backwards. We were shocked and panicked.”

Yusuf said that the airline later told passengers that the flight would be resumed after the issue had been attended to, but about 90 per cent of them refused to reboard the plane, fearing that the fault would reoccur during the flight.

AirAsia refunded the fares of those passengers who did not continue with the flight, Metro TV reported. (Free Malaysia Today)