Henry Gruver found himself in the front row of the main cabin, accompanied by his wife and their seven-year-old daughter, as they journeyed to Japan.

“Suddenly, our plane began to circle over Omaha, and you could feel the wings tilt,” Gruver recounted to CNN.

“My wife noticed a flight attendant knocking urgently on the cockpit door, which made us wonder what was happening,” he continued.

“I started praying, fearing the worst—that perhaps something was wrong with the pilots,” Gruver admitted.

It wasn’t until they landed and police came aboard that passengers were informed about the situation.

“Everybody was really calm. I guess nobody knew what was happening, so it was probably a good thing,” Gruver said.

The Embraer ERJ 175 regional jet parked away from the terminal with two firetrucks surrounding it, a photo showed.

“After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the inter-phone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door,” the FAA said in a statement.

SkyWest confirmed a problem with “a flight crew mic” on Tuesday, adding “we apologise for the inconvenience.”

The flight finally took back off for Los Angeles nearly five hours late, according to FlightAware. The Gruver family missed their connection to Japan and waited overnight in the airport for the next flight.

Skywest and American Airlines have not contacted them since the incident, they said.