Passengers reported Air France flight AF 66 was mid-flight and had just crossed the Atlantic ocean when one of the Airbus A380's engines exploded, causing the plane to vibrate and leaving passengers tense and shaken, but unharmed.

Air France confirmed the pilots were forced to land the plane at Goose Bay Airport, Canada just after 8:45am on Saturday, local time.

The double-decker Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, was about five hours into the flight and had just crossed the southern tip of Greenland, when the engine exploded, the New York Times reported.

Passenger John Birkhead said he had been talking and stretching with his wife, when "suddenly there was an enormous bang, and the whole plane shook."

"We were lucky we weren't tossed to the ground," he told the New York Times.

Another passenger Sarah Eamigh described the incident to the New York Times as a "quick drop and that obviously made someone yell, and we were white-knuckling our chairs."

"Of course, we were all anxious," she said.

Passengers and crew were stranded on the runway of the small airport for over five hours as they waited for assistance from the local ground staff.

While on the tarmac, the passengers posted images of the damaged engine on social media, along with their descriptions of the incident.

Rick Engebretsen, a passenger, said in a tweet that had been a "loud thud and a lot of vibration" after the engine exploded.

Another passenger Daniel McNeely tweeted "one of our engines is slightly blown apart," before posting a picture of the shredded engine taken from inside the plane's cabin.

"Just glad to be on the ground," he added.

The airline released a statement on Saturday, confirming the incident and praising the pilots and cabin crew for handling the situation "perfectly".

"Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF 066 operated by A380 from Paris-CDG to Los Angeles decided to divert to Goose Bay airport (Canada) following serious damage to one of its four engines," the airline said.

Engine failure halfway over the Atlantic Ocean #airfrance #airfrance66 #AF66 #birdstrike possibly pic.twitter.com/ETAFw2WIDR??? miguel.amador_ (@theamadoor) September 30, 2017

I think the engine has seen better days. pic.twitter.com/tAcBE1t0rc??? Daniel McNeely (@DanMcneely) September 30, 2017

Inflight pictures. Loud thud and a lot of vibration. pic.twitter.com/s9GFIyssrh??? Rick Engebretsen (@RickEngebretsen) September 30, 2017

It is not known what caused the damage to the engine.

According to news wire service Reuters, Goose Bay Airport in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, is commonly used by aircraft on trans-Atlantic flights for emergency fuelling stops.

Air France said it brought in two flights to carry the 497 passengers from Goose Bay to Los Angeles.

- with Agencies