Virgin Australia follows up after propeller strap on Link Airways plane pierces plane's fuselage at Canberra airport

Many of those passengers were deeply critical of the way they were treated just after the plane landed.

Some said they were ignored. Some said the concern seemed to be to stop them taking pictures. Others complained that they were told they couldn't use the lounge in the terminal unless they were already eligible. Some said that no alternative arrangements were available for them to get to Sydney in time to make connecting flights.

The flight was a Virgin flight, but operated by Link Airways.

Link Airways had not responded to requests for comment 24 hours after the flight was aborted when a strap flew off the propeller and penetrated the fuselage causing terrified passengers to scream.

A passenger across the aisle from the impact said: "It was as loud as a bomb going off."

It should be said that there may have been confusion on the ground in what was inevitably a difficult situation. And staff in the terminal may not have been aware that the plane was returning after an accident in the air. They may have thought that passengers returning to the terminal were just returning from a plane that hadn't actually taken off.

A big post-mortem is now underway involving the airlines involved plus the safety regulator.

It has emerged that three passengers were examined by ambulance staff on the tarmac. None had serious injuries needing hospital treatment.

Virgin has set up a team to contact all passengers. All will be offered a refund.

While no passengers suffered serious injury, there was a lot of mental anguish.

Some had screamed in horror when the strap from the propeller pierced the fuselage as the Saab 340B took off. The strap went through the casing and hit a woman in seat 2A, according to passengers immediately behind her. Debris sprayed into the cabin, passengers said.

"We took off and there was a huge, loud bang, and stuff flew over the cabin, and everybody screamed," Carolyn Paisley-Dew who was five seats behind impact said.

Once in the air, with the hole in the side, the plane circled north over Mount Majura and turned south over Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra before making the emergency landing. It was in the air for about 10 minutes. Passengers said that the cabin steward was unable to tell the pilot what had happened until the take-off routine was over.

After the circle back to the airport, the plane came to a stop on the runway, emergency services rushed across the tarmac and entered the aircraft.

Ash Atkinson who was in seat 6A was highly critical of the care on the ground after the fire and ambulance crews had arrived. She was also critical of Virgin Australia: "We are angry because nobody has asked us if we are okay. There was zero care. We were just left and abandoned."

The drama started on the runway as the aircraft sped for take-off. "Before we even got off the ground, people were screaming," Ms Atkinson said.

According to her, the sole cabin crew person was not allowed to contact the pilot until the plane had reached 1000 feet, after the take-off routine had taken place.

The authorities are investigating the incident. Much will turn on who should have removed the strap from the propeller before flight but also on whether anyone else was responsible for checking that it had gone.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said: "During take-off a ratchet strap that was not removed from one of the aircraft's propellers struck the aircraft's fuselage. The aircraft returned to Canberra Airport.

"Transport safety investigators from the ATSB's Canberra office have deployed to Canberra Airport to inspect the aircraft, to begin the process of interviewing the flight crew and passengers, and to gather other relevant information for the investigation."