MAS flight from KL to London forced to double back, causing 24-hour delay

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — A Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight from Kuala Lumpur to London was forced to return to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last night due to technical problems with its avionics system, the national carrier said today.

The MH002 flight on an Airbus A380-800 plane had departed at 11.55pm yesterday carrying 369 passengers with 26 flight and cabin crew onboard but was forced to return to its Sepang base several hours after departure.

It landed safely at the KLIA at 3.35am.

“MH002 experienced a technical fault which resulted in the flight having to return to KLIA as a precaution. The decision was made with the safety of our passengers and crew in mind,” MAS’ director of operations, Captain Izham Ismail told The Malay Mail Online in a statement.

Avionics, according to Wikipedia, is a combination of the word aviation and electronics, and refers to the electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites, and spacecraft, and deal with communications, navigation and the display and management of multiple systems among others.

These can be as simple as a searchlight for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an airborne early warning platform.

The MH002 flight was delayed for nearly 24 hours. The forced return also caused the delay of another flight, the MH003, from London to Kuala Lumpur, which was originally scheduled for today.

“The retiming was necessary to allow for repair work on the aircraft. We also worked closely with London-Heathrow Airport to determine new timings for both flights from Kuala Lumpur and London,” Izham said.

He added that the passengers affected had either been transferred to the MH004 flight today, or provided with accommodation at a nearby hotel.

“We sincerely apologise to all passengers of MH002/MH003 of November 7 and 8, 2013 for the disruption to their travel plans. Safety is of paramount importance at Malaysia Airlines and will always be our main priority,” Izham added.

The MH002 flight has been resheduled to depart as the MH002D flight at 11.30pm today. It is expected to arrive in London at 5.00am on November 8 local time.

Meanwhile, the original return flight of MH003, originally scheduled for departure at 10.50am today, will depart from London at 9.00am on November 9, and will arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 5.25am on November 10.

Several Airbus’ A380-800 planes have suffered from technical problems since its introduction in 2010, including one aviation accident so far.

In November 2010, Qantas Flight 32 en route from Singapore to Sydney suffered engine failure, forcing the flight to return to Singapore’s Changi Airport.

At about 7,000 feet above Indonesia’s Batam Island, one of the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines failed, sending debris into the aircraft’s left wing and fuselage, and onto Batam Island.

On February 2012, all 68 A380-800 aircrafts in operation were involved in over US$130 million-worth of repairs after cracks were discovered in fittings within their wings.

Six A380-800 make up MAS’ fleet, serving daily return routes to London, Paris and Hong Kong.

The first A380-800 touched down in KLIA with MAS’ livery at May 2012, with the last one delivered from Airbus’ assembly plant in Toulouse, France on April this year.