Robert Spilman, leader of an athletic council from Skedsmo, northeast of Oslo, was returning from Tallinn with 19 other Norwegians last Friday when they suddenly hear a loud bang on board their Estonian Air flight.
"The whole aircraft began to vibrate, and it sounded like a rock inside a washing machine," Spilman told newspaper Romerikes Blad. "When we looked out the window, we could see flames shooting out from one of the engines."
"Technical problem'
Seconds later, he said, the engine was shut down. Passengers were told only that the flight had to turn around because of a "technical problem."
The pilot landed back in Tallinn without incident, but Spilman is angry that the passengers were offered neither more information nor any help while they waited for a new flight.
It was late that night before the passengers finally were flown home. Upon landing in Oslo, Estonian Air's partner SAS failed to offer any assistance or information either.
'Operating fault'
It took four days before Estonian Air issued a statement on its web site that the flight "departed on schedule, but that 12 minutes after take-off there was a change in the parameters of one of the plane's (the ES-ABG Virmaline) engines which indicated an operating fault."
Estonian Air went on to claim that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-500, "can fly safely with only one operating motor, and there was no danger to travellers." An "independent commission," however, was "to investigate the details of the case."
The airline said it "would like to apologise to all of its clients for any inconvenience caused."