Passengers panicked when an AirAsia flight’s engine died suddenly before it could take off from the Juanda, Surabaya International Airport, metrotvnews.com reported.

The plane’s engine had died off after two to three metres of taxing before a take-off. The passengers who were on the flight to Bandung were then told to get down from the aircraft for repair works.

There were 120 passengers on that flight from Surabaya to bandung.

A passenger, Yusuf Fitriadi who had related the incident to the news portal said a man in a pilot uniform had approached the passengers at the waiting lounge and had explained that there was a problem with the starter monitor.

He said despite attending to the problem and announcing that the flight will continue, almost 90 per cent of passengers decided not to board for fear that the same problem may recur mid-air.

Yusuf said AirAsia authorities had then refunded the money of passengers who decided not to fly.