UPDATED: AirAsia X plane 'shaking like a washing machine' after engine trouble

Passengers recounted how an AirAsia X Airbus A330-300  began “shaking like a washing machine’’ after experiencing a serious engine problem on its way to Kuala Lumpur from the West Australian capital of Perth on Sunday. The Kuala Lumpur-based plane with 359 passengers on board was more than an hour into its trip when the problem struck, prompting the Captain to declare an emergency and return to Perth. Passengers said they were told to adopt the brace position as the plane landed safely about 10 am, some three hours after departure. AirAsia X described the problem only as a “technical issue’’  but aviation sources confirmed there was an inflight engine shutdown while the plane was in cruise at 38,000ft. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation and said a  report would be issued within a few months. Sources said a large fan blade failed in the left engine, destroying several components. An engine expert said it was possible the airflow forced the out-of-balance fan to keep turning after the engine was shut down and created a low-frequency vibration that would have continued to shake the plane. Respected aviation website The Aviation Herald said one of the aircraft's Rolls-Royce Trent engines suffered a blade fracture and ingested the blade,  resulting in severe damage in the engine core and severe vibrations. "The crew shut the engine down, drifted the aircraft down to FL200 (20,000ft)  and returned to Perth for a safe landing about two hours after the engine failure,'' it said. A China Eastern A330 aircraft that suffered engine damage and was forced to turn back to Sydney while en-route to Shanghai earlier this month was also Rolls-Royce powered as was an Egyptair A330 that experienced an engine failure in May, although these incidents may not be related to the AirAsia X problem. Read; Probe starts into gaping hole in China Eastern engine nacelle. Passengers said they were told the engine had seized after the plane began to shudder a strong smell entered the cabin. Several said there was a bang. “It was essentially the engine seized up I think, that’s what they told us anyway,” passenger Brenton Atkinson told the ABC. “It was literally like you were sitting on top of a washing machine. The whole thing was going. We could see the engine out the window which was really shaken on the wing.” Another passenger said one announcement expressed the hope they would say a prayer and that he was praying for a safe return to Perth. Questions have been raised about why the crew opted to return to Perth rather than land at an RAAF air base at Learmonth that was closer. The usual practice for an engine failure is to divert to the nearest available suitable airport. The airline said the flight crew were in constant communication with air traffic control and determined Perth was the most suitable airport “ after assessing all possible options and requirements”. “The management applaud the decision made by the flight crew that brought the aircraft to land safely at Perth Airport,’’ it said. Guests were transferred to the next available flight or a recovery flight which departed Perth about 11:40pm Sunday, more than three hours after the original schedule. The plane is being assessed but passengers reported they were told a blade had sheared off in the left engine. AirAsia X was put under heightened surveillance by Australia’s air safety regulator after an Airbus A330 leaving Sydney in 2015  was forced to divert to Melbourne when its crew seriously affected key systems trying to fix a data entry error. In that instance, the captain inadvertently put the wrong longitude in the flight navigation system and told the plane it was 11,000kms from where it actually was.  The error made the plane turn the wrong way after it took off and cross the departure path of an adjacent runway.