KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 166 people on board turned back and landed safely at Kuala Lumpur airport early yesterday morning, due to one of the tyres on its main landing gear bursting during take-off, the airline said.
Malaysia Airlines said tyre debris was discovered on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, 16 minutes after Flight MH192 had taken off for Bangalore shortly after 10pm on Sunday.
The captain of the Boeing 737-800, which carried 159 passengers and seven crew, was alerted immediately and airport fire rescue services were deployed. The jet made the emergency landing safely at 1.56am yesterday.
The airline said in a statement that another departure was scheduled for the flight yesterday.
Malaysia Airlines has been reeling from the loss of Flight MH370, which disappeared soon after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing last month, with 239 people on board.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday commended the pilots of Flight MH192 and the ground crew for helping the plane land safely back at the airport.
“Good work to all involved. Well done to Captain Nor Adam Azmi and his co-pilot Prakash Kumar for successfully landing the plane in an emergency situation,” Mr Najib wrote on his Facebook account, Bernama reported.
In a press conference held after the plane landed at the airport yesterday, Defence Minister and Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein also praised the crew, following a meeting with the passengers.
“We are thankful that none of the passengers were hurt. I was very touched earlier when I was able to meet the passengers, as most of them were very impressed with the captain and crew,” The Star reported Mr Hishammuddin as saying.
But he made clear that the incident should not have happened and said Malaysia Airlines would have to file a report with the Transport Ministry by tomorrow. “This is because there have been many incidents involving Malaysia Airlines, including the disappearance of Flight MH370. The report has to be handed to my ministry and the Cabinet,” he said.
Investigations are also under way to determine if there were elements of sabotage involved, The New Straits Times reported Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar as saying yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry said it would review the standard safety procedures before take-off for all flights, following yesterday’s incident. AGENCIES
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