Malaysia Airlines flight number MH148, which was bound from Melbourne, Australia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had to turn back and make an emergency landing at the Melbourne Airport shortly after it departed from it.
The plane took off from the airport in Melbourne at 2:16 p.m. (4:16 a.m. GMT) on Friday, but, according to an airport spokesperson, it had to perform an emergency landing.
The spokeswoman for the airport also said:
The plane landed safely a couple of minutes before 3:00 p.m., Australian time this afternoon.
Pilot Reported an ‘Engine Problem’, but Local Media Speculate Engine Fire
According to Airservices Australia, plane’s pilot reported an ‘engine problem’.
A spokesman for Airservices Australia said:
We provide air traffic control and aviation rescue firefighting services for Melbourne Airport, so basically the plane reported an engine problem, dumped their fuel and returned to land.
However, some local media have speculated that there has been an engine fire in the plane.
Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade confirmed its crews were sent to the scene at around 2:22 p.m., but it did not provide any other information. As such, they could not confirm if the crews had to put out any fires on the plane or not.
Engineers and airport ground personnel have already started inspecting the aircraft to see what caused the problem.
All 300 Passengers Safely Evacuated, MAS to Provide More Info Later
Malaysia Airlines confirmed that all 300 passengers onboard the Airbus A330 were safely evacuated following the emergency landing. The carrier also promised to provide more information about this, as it comes to light.
Following the incident, Malaysian company also tweeted:
MH148-MEL-KUL made an air-turn back and landed uneventfully. The aircraft is being grounded for investigation.
The plane landed safely and the operations at the Melbourne Airport are back to normal now.
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