Panic as jet plummets 20,000 feet

 An AirAsia flight from Australia to Indonesia was forced to turn back to Perth after losing cabin pressure, with passengers on Monday recounting their terror as oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.

Air Asia said the plane suffered a “technical issue” with media reports saying the aircraft plummeted 20,000 feet in just nine minutes.

Video circulating online shows distressed passengers wearing oxygen masks with an alarm blaring and AirAsia staff calling for people to assume the brace position.

“I picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it,” one tearful passenger, Leah, told Channel Nine. “It was horrible.”

Another holidaymaker said not knowing what was going on heightened fears. “We didn’t know what was happening because all the voice recordings on the plane were in every language but English,” she said.

Jeanes, a passenger, had planned to propose to his girlfriend in Bali. he did it while pulling on his oxygen mask. AirAsia apologised for the scare, blaming a “technical issue” without elaborating on further.