PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines flight MH360, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was forced to return to KL International Airport (KLIA) on Saturday night due to technical problems involving its landing gear.
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAS) said the pilot took the decision not to continue the flight after considering the safety of the passengers on board.
It said MH360 took off from KLIA at 6pm on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 12 midnight.
“However, due to technical issues involving the landing gear, the MH360 pilot made the decision to turn back and not to proceed to Beijing as scheduled,” MAS said in a statement issued today.
“The plane landed safely at KLIA at 9pm after three hours in the air,” MAS said, adding the cause of the plane’s landing gear problem is currently being identified and repaired by its engineers.
Following the issue, MAS decided to replace the plane with another aircraft which departed from KLIA at 12.30pm and arrived safely in Beijing at 6.35am this morning.
Earlier, it was reported that MH360 was flying over the Malacca Straits before turning back to KLIA.
