Flight to Incheon turned back due to technical issue, says MAS

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) confirmed that a flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Incheon International Airport, South Korea, turned back due to a technical issue with the hydraulic system.

In a statement on Monday (Sept 2), MAS said that flight MH66, which took off on Sept 1 to Incheon, made a precautionary return to Kuala Lumpur shortly after takeoff and landed safely at KLIA Terminal 1 at 1.30am.

“All passengers have been accommodated at a hotel, and the flight has been rescheduled to operate as MH66D, departing at 8pm on Monday (Sept 2). The return leg, MH67D, has also been rescheduled to depart at 5.10 am (local Incheon time) on Sept 3.

“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority,” MAS said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) chief executive officer Datuk Captain Norazman Mahmud said that CAAM had also been informed of the incident.

“The airline (MAS) has given a preliminary report to CAAM. However, detailed information will only be available after a full investigation. All the crew and passengers of the fight are safe,” he said when contacted.

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It was reported that another MAS plane on a flight from KLIA to Incheon International Airport, South Korea, had turned back early Monday morning.

According to the Flightradar24 website, the flight using an Airbus A330-323 aircraft took off from KLIA at 12.01 this morning before turning around and landing safely at KLIA a few hours later.

Flight MH66 was supposed to take off at 11.30pm Sunday night.

This is the fifth incident involving MAS flights being forced to turn back or be diverted in less than a month. – Bernama