Passengers thankful for safe landing after SF to Hawaii flight's engine fails

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A flight to paradise turned into a frightening ordeal for passengers aboard a United Airlines flight. One of the jet's two engines failed over the Pacific Ocean. Passengers are happy to be back on the ground.

RELATED: Flight from San Francisco to Hawaii lands safely after engine fails over Pacific

"A tremendous bang and a depleting very sudden vibration," said one passenger, describing what happened when the right engine on United Flight 1175 suddenly failed over the Pacific.

"I thought we were going to die," said another passenger. "And I hoped that my kids knew that I loved them."

The Boeing 777 then had to finish its journey to Hawaii on just one engine -- that's something the jumbo jet is designed to do.

"Get the emergency card out and so we kind of reviewed all that while we held hands and prayed," said Allan McGuinn, who was on the flight.

Another passenger, Wayne Smellie said, "When it came over the end of the runway they had us brace for landing."

The wide-body jet landed safely, while emergency crews waited along the runway.

"We then had to wait for the fire department to assess the aircraft before we could then go," added Smellie. "Otherwise we would have had to have done the emergency evacuation straight away."

Emotions like anxiety and fear transformed into feelings of relief and joy.

Passengers praised their pilots. "When we were leaving the plane, they shook everybody's hand," said Lynne Murray. "They looked them straight in the eye and that was real. It was comforting and they were so brave."