A Qantas Airways plane bound for Brisbane suffered an engine failure after take-off on Friday and circled for a short period of time before returning safely to Sydney Airport, the Australian airline said.

Qantas said in a statement on Friday that there had been a "contained engine failure" on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

That big bang as the wheels were leaving the ground and the shudder — that was like nothing I’ve ever felt,” one passenger said.