(Yicai) Dec. 4 -- A China Eastern Airlines flight directed to Hong Kong from Shanghai was forced to perform an emergency landing in Xiamen, southeastern Fujian province, because of an engine failure.

Flight MU721 safely landed at the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport at 9.59 a.m. yesterday after experiencing an engine failure, the Shanghai-based airline announced on Weibo at 11.00 a.m. on the same day, without disclosing the specific cause of the accident.

The faulty aircraft is a 6.4-year-old Airbus 330 with 294 seats. It has flown a total of 1,055 times for 1,382 hours, an average of 9.8 hours per day in the past year.

Passengers had just finished breakfast when the cabin violently shook, according to videos posted on social media by passengers, some of whom claimed to have heard a loud bang and saw the engine smoking.

From a video showing the violent vibrations of the aircraft, the failure may be caused by a high engine vibration index or cabin decompression, but probably the former, judging from a photo showing the damage of the left engine blade, a senior pilot told The Paper yesterday.

Considering the flight time, the failure occurred at a high altitude, excluding the possibility of bird strikes or impact with illegal drones, the pilot added, noting that the issue was likely caused by metal fatigue or bad weather.

Editor: Futura Costaglione