A Melbourne woman has described the “horrific” experience when the flight she was on to Milan, Italy, was filled with fumes before the wing burst into flames when it landed.
Deli Baker, a Melbourne psychologist, was on flight SQ 368 from Singapore to Milan on Monday when the cabin was filled with fumes.
Ms Baker was fearful they would be asphyxiated after she started to cough and found it difficult to breathe.
Two-and-a-half hours into the flight the captain announced they would have to return to Singapore.
“The captain … said there was an oil leak. We think it might have been a hydraulic system failure on the right wing,” she told 774 ABC Melbourne.
“[It was] terrifying. The fear of asphyxiation in the cabin is really what struck me initially.
“I had a panic attack straight away. It was absolutely horrific.”
Ms Baker was with her partner, her 18-year-old niece and her 22-year-old nephew.
The trip back to Singapore was slower because the damaged engine was shut down.
“There was kind of a sense that we were limping back to Singapore,” she said.
“There was a more direct [route] over sea but he wasn’t taking it. That kind of really hit me in the guts.
“I was like ‘he’s thinking this engine could fail. He wants to put it down on land instead of water.'”
Once they landed, the wing of the plane immediately burst into flames.
“As we were touching down I saw rows of fire trucks and when we hit the tarmac they chased us down the runway,” she said.
“Everybody started clapping. The relief that charges through your body when you get down to the ground because for two-and-a-half hours you’re thinking this is touch and go.
“Then we could see yellow flashing out on the right-hand side and you realise that’s flames.
“The whole wing caught fire and we could see the flames.”
The plane was sprayed with fire retardant foam and the 222 passengers and 19 crew were allowed to leave once the fire was out.
Despite the trauma, Ms Baker said her group then flew on to Milan because she knew if she did not, she would never fly again.
As if that was not enough, they were supposed to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, in two weeks, where dozens were killed in a suicide bomb attack.
“Now we’re scrapping that leg of the trip for obvious reasons. We’ve been through enough,” she said.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
© 2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Read the ABC Disclaimer here.