Kota Baru-bound Firefly plane forced to turn back due to technical problems
The Malaysian Insider – 49 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- Firefly Airlines flight turned back to Penang airport after landing gear problem
A Firefly aircraft was forced to perform an air turn-back today following a problem with its landing gear, the second incident involving a Malaysian commercial aircraft this week.
In a statement, Firefly Airlines confirmed that flight FY1002, a codeshare with Malaysia Airlines flight MH9948, landed safely at the Penang International Airport at 7.30am this morning.
The flight had departed from Penang at 6.55am bound for Kota Baru but the aircraft's landing gear had been unable to retract.
"As safety is of utmost priority for Firefly Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back and return to Penang," Firefly said in a statement.
The airline, which is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, said the 64 passengers and four crew members aboard the flight later departed from Penang at 8.50am and arrived in Kota Baru at 9.50am.
On Monday, MAS flight MH192 bound for Bangalore, India, was forced to make an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur.
The flight, with 166 people on board, had to return after it was discovered that a tyre had burst following take-off.
The incident was considered another blow to the safety image of Malaysia's national airline following the loss of flight MH370 on March 8.
Flight MH192 landed safely at 1.56am, nearly four hours after it took off, the flag carrier said.
The airline said tyre debris discovered on the runway had led to the decision to bring the Boeing 737-800 aircraft back.
MAS is still reeling from the loss and presumed crash of flight MH370, which disappeared with 227 passengers and 12 crew members while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The flight is believed to have crashed into the remote Indian Ocean.
An Australian-led multi-nation search effort is now scouring a remote area of the Indian Ocean for wreckage from the jetliner. – April 24, 2014.
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