A Malaysia Airlines flight was diverted due to a technical issue, with some passengers reporting anxious moments on board.
- Passengers tell of loud noise, shaking
- Crew allegedly told passengers to “brace for impact”, that “there might be a crash landing”
- Reports of passengers being scared, flight attendants nervous
- Malaysia Airlines apologise for anxiety experienced
Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Alice Springs yesterday after suffering technical issues in the air.
The flight left Sydney Airport at 1.06pm local time and was scheduled to arrive at 6.30pm.
It was diverted to Alice Springs at 3.56pm and landed at 5.48pm.
A news.com.au report said an engine had shut down and the A330-300 aircraft turned around while it was flying above Derby in Western Australia, just as it was about to leave the airspace over the Australian continent.
A report by 9news.com.au said the aircraft had been cruising at 36,000ft on its way to Kuala Lumpur but when it was diverted to Alice Springs, it was flown at a cruising altitude of 24,000ft.
The report also quoted a passenger, Donna Edwards, as saying that “All of a sudden a massive vibration, the whole plane was shaking.”
She said the passengers were told by the crew to “brace for impact” but 30 minutes later they were told “it was under control.”
Passengers were also reported as saying there was a loud noise coming from the side of the plane while it was diverted.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported passenger Sanjeev Pandey, from Sydney, was on the flight with two friends and they were seated near the plane’s left wing.
They heard a noise several hours into the flight.
“There was a loud noise, then the plane started to shake a bit,” Pandey was quoted as saying.
“The loud noise didn’t stop for several minutes. It got louder and everyone was scared. All the flight attendants seemed nervous.”
According to the report, the noise stopped after about 10 minutes and the captain announced that the noise had been due to bad weather.
“He said ‘we are planning to return for assistance’, then they had an emergency landing demonstration,” Pandey said.
“They said there might be a crash landing. That made it even more scary.
“The flight attendants came to us and said ‘this should be the position of your head, lean forward’. It was very scary. It was the first time I’d ever been in a very scary situation.”
Another passenger, Madhu Alasyam, wrote on Twitter the incident “scared the hell” out of him.
“Kudos to pilot for safe landing in #AliceSprings, after a brace-for-impact call,” he wrote.
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said that the aircraft experienced a technical fault on one of its engines.
“Safety was not at any time compromised and the commanding captain decided to divert the flight for technical assistance.
“All affected passengers have been given hotel accommodation, meals and transportation. Passengers will be transferred from Alice Springs to Kuala Lumpur on MH148/ Jan 19, 2018. The flight is scheduled to depart Alice Springs at 5.45pm and is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 9.50pm the same day.
“Malaysia Airlines is also working very hard to reallocate passengers with onward connections on to the next available flights to their destination.”
In a statement today, Malaysia Airlines Bhd Group chief executive Capt Izham Ismail commended the pilots and crew for ensuring that passengers were not panicked during the diversion.
“Based on reports received, there was a loud bang heard from the left-hand engine. This was followed by a warning indicator which appeared on the electronic aircraft monitoring system.
“The captain then requested for the cabin crew to prepare for a normal landing. There was no chaos reported in the cabin,” he said.
He added that the flight captain made the correct decision to divert the airplane to Alice Springs in order to have the issue rectified.
“I apologize to all our guests over the incident and understand the anxiety experienced,” Izham said.
In news reports of the incident yesterday, passengers on board the plane were quoted as saying they were frightened, with one claiming that the crew appeared “nervous and clueless” after a loud noise emanating from an engine forced the diversion.
Another complained that passengers were not informed of the matter for up to 15 minutes after the episode began.
Malaysia Airlines’ safety record has been under added scrutiny after Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, en route to Beijing, while MH17 was shot down over Ukraine on July 17 of the same year.