Passengers on an AirAsia X flight say they saw sparks coming from an engine after a suspected bird strike led to their plane being grounded in Brisbane last night.The incident occurred shortly after the Kuala Lumpur-bound flight took off from the Gold Coast about 10:20pm, with the plane flying for another hour before landing safely in Brisbane.
The plane switched course to Brisbane an hour after take-off.
"Two bird remains were found on the runway," the airline said in a statement.
Eric Lim, a passenger who posted images and video of the plane on social media, said the right engine was struck. "Successive sparks 'boom, boom, boom' went off," Mr Lim posted on Facebook.