Passenger Simon Rushton tells of horror on board Qantas flight that made emergency landing in Geraldton

A passenger on board a Qantas flight that was forced to make an emergency landing following a mid-air scare has accused the airline of “underplaying” the incident, saying everyone on the plane “thought they were going to die”.

Qantas flight QF1624 had taken off from Perth on Monday afternoon and was bound for Paraburdoo in the State’s north when it was suddenly diverted and forced to make a priority landing in Geraldton.

Passengers were told to get into the brace position and prepare for impact.

Passenger Simon Rushton on Tuesday told morning radio of the nightmare passengers and staff endured as the plane repeatedly nose-dived.

The plane, a Fokker 100, was at cruising altitude when it started to “nose over” unexpectedly halfway through service.

“With no warning halfway through service the plane started to nose over,” Mr Rushton said.

“Everyone felt the kind of weightlessness you get when you go over a steep incline and was sort of like, ‘What’s that?’”

Mr Rushton said that for about 10 minutes, the plane continued going “up and down”.

“Pits of your stomach up in your throat, it was not pleasant at all,” he said.

“The pilot came over the airwaves and said that everyone — including cabin staff — needed to immediately put their seatbelts on securely and get into the brace position.”

A cabin crew member then announced that the pilot would be doing an emergency landing and advised passengers they would feel one large impact before feeling multiple minor impacts.

“Everyone on that plane thought they were going to die and was texting their loved ones,” he said.

On Tuesday, a Qantas spokesperson confirmed the incident happened due to a “mechanical issue”.

“Our Perth to Paraburdoo service was diverted to Geraldton on Monday evening following a mechanical issue,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

“The flight landed safely, and we’ll get passengers on their way to Paraburdoo on other flights today.

“We appreciate this would have been an unsettling experience for our customers and want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

However, Mr Rushton said he felt Qantas had “underplayed” the seriousness of the incident.

“Everyone on that plane thought they were going to die,” he said.

“Everyone was texting their loved ones, I reread the [goodbye] texts this morning and I felt sick reading it so for Qantas to go out today and say they acknowledge that was an unsettling experience — that is rubbish.

“There were people there being attended to by the wonderful people from St John Ambulance.

“[Qantas] are underplaying it.”

Emergency services met the aircraft on the tarmac as a precaution but a Qantas spokesperson said they were not needed.

Evan Bartlett, chief pilot of Network Aviation, a subsidiary of Qantas that specialises in FIFO and charter flights, said he understands why passengers were concerned.

He said the plan had an issue with the autoflight system.

“Our pilots and crew are highly trained to handle situations like this,” he said. “Following attempts to troubleshoot the issue, the crew made the decision to divert to Geraldton Airport. “The crew followed standard safety procedures, which saw customers instructed to take the brace position as a precaution for landing. “The aircraft landed normally in Geraldton, and we are now undertaking a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the mechanical issue. “We understand this was a distressing experience for those onboard and we sincerely apologise. We’re in the process of contacting all customers to provide our support.”