<p>Passengers recounted their panic Monday after a sudden loss of pressure on their AirAsia flight caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling and sent their plane into a steep drop.<br /><br />AirAsia said the Airbus A320, carrying 151 people, suffered a "technical issue", with Australian media reporting the aircraft, en route to Indonesia, had dropped from 32,000 feet (10,000 metres) to 10,000 feet 25 minutes after take-off.<br /><br />Video circulating online shows distressed passengers wearing oxygen masks with an alarm blaring and cabin crew calling for people to assume the brace position.<br /><br />"I picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it," one tearful passenger named Leah told Channel Nine television.<br /><br />"We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting."<br /><br />Another holidaymaker said not knowing what was going on heightened fears.<br /><br />"We didn't know what was happening because all the voice recordings on the plane were in every language but English," she said.<br /><br />AirAsia apologised for the scare on Sunday's Perth to Bali flight, blaming a "technical issue" without elaborating on the cause.<br /><br />"The safety of passengers and crew is our priority," the budget airline said in a statement.<br /><br />"AirAsia apologises to passengers for any inconvenience caused."<br /><br />Several flights have been forced back to Australia in recent months, including an AirAsia Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur service in July that the carrier said was involved in a suspected bird strike.<br /><br />A Qantas flight en route to Dallas returned to Sydney in August after the wing flaps could not be retracted, while a Johannesburg-bound plane turned back to Sydney on the same day when a crack in the windscreen was discovered.</p>
<p>Passengers recounted their panic Monday after a sudden loss of pressure on their AirAsia flight caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling and sent their plane into a steep drop.<br /><br />AirAsia said the Airbus A320, carrying 151 people, suffered a "technical issue", with Australian media reporting the aircraft, en route to Indonesia, had dropped from 32,000 feet (10,000 metres) to 10,000 feet 25 minutes after take-off.<br /><br />Video circulating online shows distressed passengers wearing oxygen masks with an alarm blaring and cabin crew calling for people to assume the brace position.<br /><br />"I picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it," one tearful passenger named Leah told Channel Nine television.<br /><br />"We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting."<br /><br />Another holidaymaker said not knowing what was going on heightened fears.<br /><br />"We didn't know what was happening because all the voice recordings on the plane were in every language but English," she said.<br /><br />AirAsia apologised for the scare on Sunday's Perth to Bali flight, blaming a "technical issue" without elaborating on the cause.<br /><br />"The safety of passengers and crew is our priority," the budget airline said in a statement.<br /><br />"AirAsia apologises to passengers for any inconvenience caused."<br /><br />Several flights have been forced back to Australia in recent months, including an AirAsia Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur service in July that the carrier said was involved in a suspected bird strike.<br /><br />A Qantas flight en route to Dallas returned to Sydney in August after the wing flaps could not be retracted, while a Johannesburg-bound plane turned back to Sydney on the same day when a crack in the windscreen was discovered.</p>