KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 ― An AirAsia X pilot is under criticism for telling passengers to pray after his plane suffered engine problems while flying from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.

Some such as former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim have questioned the professionalism of the aviator, while his employers and a passenger have staunchly defended him over the move.

As debate continues over the call, here are some notable messages from flight crews in similar situations.

British Airways Flight BA 9 from London to Auckland (June 24, 1982)

Arguably the most famous pilot announcement of an emergency situation came on board this British Airways flight that was flying to Auckland, New Zealand from London in 1982.

BA 9 experienced a quadruple flameout, meaning all four of its engines stopped working at one point, forcing it divert to Jakarta, Indonesia.

The engines were damaged due to volcanic ash, which also caused very poor visibility for the pilots.

This is what the pilot said: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

The flight with 263 people on board landed safely in Jakarta.

Southwest Airlines Flight 3426 from Tampa Bay to Raleigh Durham (November 12, 2013)

The domestic American flight was about to land at Raleigh Durham when it started facing a “pressurisation issue”. But the pilot went on the public intercom and made this terse announcement.

“We’re going down.”

The flight carrying 101 people eventually landed safely, but not before it gave an almighty scare to passengers who said they were “convinced” that they would die. The plane dove and leveled out after 10 minutes, as a drastic descent enable the cabin pressure to normalise.

The airlines has since said that the message was intended for cabin crew members to prepare them for a sudden descent.

Ryanair flight from Glasgow to Dublin (January 18, 2016)

This incident was more down to pressure and fatigue getting to a cabin crew member after prolonged flight delay, but it nevertheless caused panic among passengers, some of whom did not find the announcement amusing.

The flight was delayed for more than eight hours due to heavy snowfall in the United Kingdom, and a cabin crew member took the intercom to explain to passengers why the plane can’t take off yet.

“The captain cannot take off when we have ice on the wings, and we don’t want to die,” she said over the intercom.

Monarch Airlines Flight MON 368 from Tobago to London (April 6, 2014)

British carrier Monarch Airlines admitted that its pilot made a “poor choice” of words when he told passengers they could have met a “watery grave” during a problem-ridden, long-haul flight from the Caribbean island of Tobago to London in April 2014.

The flight had to make an emergency landing in Barbados at one point and eventually took three days to reach Gatwick Airport in London from Tobago.

At some point in the flight, the pilot said that the problem was due to the reverse thrusters not working properly and, if the problem was not rectified, they would have all met with a “watery grave”.

He also made a reference to a Thai flight that flipped mid-air due to the same problem in 1999, killing all 213 people on board.