AFTER the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling on flight QF30, Tara Kynnersley came to accept that she was going to die.

"I just thought, 'I'm really happy with life. I have a beautiful fiance, family, friends - I have had a wonderful life.' And I thought, 'I'm on a plane, there's nothing I can really do about it.' "

Ms Kynnersley was flying home to Melbourne to celebrate her 31st birthday. She had experienced love and the heights of romance - her boyfriend Brent had just proposed to her on the cliffs of Positano, on Italy's Amalfi Coast. They had cried at Hong Kong airport when they parted, as he had stayed behind to go to a friend's birthday party.

An hour out of Hong Kong, she was reading a British bridal magazine when her four-week European dream went wrong.

"It was a sudden plunge, then the plane plateaued. I didn't hear the noise … but I thought that was it. We watch a lot of the air crash investigation shows," she said.

"There was a bit of panic because of the oxygen masks not working … I spoke to a woman whose kids' masks were not working and the hosties were sitting with them, patting her on the back."

Ms Kynnersley said the composure of the pilot as he announced the plane would be landing in Manila, as well as the service from the stewards, had calmed her and her fellow passengers.

"He was so, so good … Then I thought, 'Maybe we'll be OK.' "

Her nerves were tested again when she had to reboard a flight to complete her trip home.

"I had a few wines to get me to sleep. Every little thing was just accelerated from before. I noticed every bump," she said.

Safely back at home yesterday, Ms Kynnersley celebrated her birthday with champagne, good friends and her parents, Dianne and Peter.

Another passenger on the flight, Steve Winchester, of Melbourne, said he had heard an explosion before the plane took a dive.

"Everyone was just thinking to themselves: 'Oh, I think this is it,' " he said. "I heard someone scream. People were just looking at each other in sheer terror.

"The captain did a fantastic job. We had no idea the extent of the damage until we got off the aircraft."