The Cathay Pacific flight CX170 was cruising at 36,000 feet when a "No.2 engine defect" was reported.
"There were flames and sparks flying out of the motor," passenger Joel Sirna told 6PR presenter Gary Adshead, as cited by the West Australian.
The CX170 departed from Perth, Australia, just before midnight local time and was scheduled to land in Hong Kong at 7:40am on Friday.
"Mid-flight, we heard a loud bang and the plane started to shake, all the lights went out and I looked to the window and have just seen some flames and some sparks - the wing and the motor was on fire," Sirna said.
The pilot announced that one of the engines had stopped working and then all the power in the cabin went off, Sirna told reporters.
"There were a few people that were pretty shaken. The girl next to me started freaking out and crying, so I just tried to calm everyone down. That's what we had to do," he said.
The captain made a decision to divert the plane to the nearest airport "for safety reasons." The plane, an Airbus A330, landed safely in Denpasar, Bali.
Playback of #CX170, Perth-Hong Kong, which diverted to Bali after a #2 engine malfunction. http://t.co/j7oJSpykbf pic.twitter.com/HImtvwXXWb
โ Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 25, 2015
"There was no fire onboard, and no passengers or crew were injured," Cathay Pacific said in a statement.
#CX170 passengers say they saw engine, wing on fire http://t.co/gdJmQXcXus @cathaypacific #aviation #VOAalert pic.twitter.com/qUVqaVLaX0
โ Steve Herman (@W7VOA) September 25, 2015
Passengers said that they were kept onboard for nearly two hours after landing while the company was figuring out how to get them off.
@DaveDoran77There was no cabin fire. Our crew and passengers are resting in the hotel or taking other flights while we're investigating.
โ Cathay Pacific (@cathaypacific) September 25, 2015
"We were stuck sitting there for about two hours until we could actually get off the plane. We couldn't see the flames any more so we were hoping it was all good," Sirna said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it had not been notified of the incident.
Comment: This latest 'engine defect' follows the fiery explosion and dramatic evacuation of a British Airways jet at Las Vegas Airport recently after a 'catastrophic' engine failure, and the Singapore Airlines plane that plunged 13,000 ft after both engines failed earlier this year, among many others.
Some other aircraft related incidents include: Planes suddenly 'disappearing' from radar, sometimes in "unprecedented" blackouts; more planes diverting due to "electrical burning and smoke smells", "engine fires" and plane wings "bursting into flames".
Statistics showing a disturbing trend in "air rage"; the tragic Germanwings crash not being the full story and the still unresolved mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370? It looks like a continuation from last year, see also:
SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Year of the planes Cluster of plane problems as 2014 comes to a close