Malaysian Airlines flight: passengers recount mid air scare

B D Narayankar reports
     
Bangalore, Apr 21 (PTI) A Bangalore-bound Malaysian
Airlines plane with 166 people on board, which turned back
shortly after take-off last night due to problem in its
landing gear, flew into the international airport here today
with the passengers recounting the harrowing mid-air scare.
        "The plane landed at the Kempe Gowda International Airport
(KGIA) here exactly at 4.57 pm," airport sources said.
        Flight MH192 had turned back shortly after take-off last
night due to problem in its landing gear and landed safely at
Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 1.56 am (local time).
        Malaysia Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein earlier
said on his Twitter feed that a tyre was reported to have
burst on take-off.
        The jet, operated on the B737-800 aircraft, had departed
from Kuala Lumpur at 10.09 pm (0721 IST) and was scheduled to
arrive here at 11.35 pm (local time) here yesterday.
        The passengers, on landing at the airport here this
evening, heaved a sigh of relief after they underwent a
harrowing time in air for nearly three to four hours.
        Speaking to reporters, Tejeswi Shetty said the experience
was scary not only for her but all her co-passengers. "Those
were scary moments. Everyone was anxious. Some others were
praying and few comforting each other," she said.
        "Actually soon after the take-off itself we heard a sound.
It was like a tyre burst type. Then it was like fully shaking.
Immediately after the take-off the pilot announced that the
plane is returning to Kuala Lampur due to techinal snag,"
Shetty said.
        "We were four hours in the air. The pilot made two
attempts to land the aircraft, but he did so on third
attempt," she said.
        She, however, had words of appreciation for the crew,
especially the pilot. "The crew was very good. Even the pilot
was often talking to us," she said.
        Another woman passenger said after being in the air for
four hours, the plane finally landed because they wanted to
finish off the fuel which was there in the flight. "Landing -
we were scared but was fine. We were all praying too," she
said.

Malaysian police to probe sabotage in MH192 emergency landing

   
Kuala Lumpur, Apr 21 (PTI) Malaysian police on Monday said they will probe if there was any sabotage behind the emergency landing of a Bangalore-bound flight carrying 166 people on board.

The Malaysia Airlines Flight MH192 turned back early this morning following a tyre burst and faulty landing gear.

Investigations would be carried out to see if there were elements of sabotage on the plane, inspector general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said while responding to acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein's call for the police to conduct an investigation.

The Boeing 737-800 – carrying 159 passengers and seven crew members – was en route to Bangalore from here when it made the emergency landing.

The Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that the turn back was because "one of the tyres on the right hand main landing gear burst during takeoff. The Captain was alerted by Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control that tyre debris were found on the runway and immediately contacted Malaysia Airlines Operations Control Centre (OCC) at 10:25pm."

"As safety is of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)," it said.

The Airport Fire Rescue Services (AFRS) were deployed as soon as the pilot was instructed to turn back to the airport by Operations Control Centre (OCC).

"All 159 passengers and 7 crew members on board have disembarked from the aircraft. MH192 will be re-timed to depart KLIA at 3.30pm on 21 April 2014 and arrive Bangalore at 5.00pm the same day," the statement said.

The people on board the plane were unharmed as the plane landed safely at KLIA around 1.56am (local time). The flight had departed at 10.09pm (local time) last night, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) tweeted.

The jet was scheduled to arrive in Bangalore at 11.35 pm IST on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin praised the pilot of the plane for his "skillful" handling of the aircraft.

"The passengers, despite being tired, expressed their admiration for the pilot's skillful handling of the aircraft in making the emergency landing safe (at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport) without any harm to the passengers," he said and placed a pilot's cap on Nor Adam Azmi's head as a gesture of appreciation.