AirAsia X Airbus A330 was performing flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur with 359 people on board when the left hand engine (Trent 772) suffered a blade fracture, ingested the blade resulting in severe damage in engine core and severe vibrations.

The crew shut the engine down, drifted the aircraft down to FL200 and returned to Perth for a safe landing about 2 hours after the engine failure.

Passengers reported a large bang was heard followed by severe vibrations and sounds like a spinning washing machine. They were instructed to brace for landing.

Australia’s emergency services reported they put their marine emergency services on stand by for a possible water landing of the aircraft north of Perth.

The airline reported the aircraft returned to Perth due to a technical problem without confirming an engine issue. Emergency services were called as precaution only as part of the standard operating procedures. The passengers were rebooked onto other flights.