KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 ― Claiming to have been kept in the dark, some passengers aboard a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight to London saw red after suffering an eight-hour delay caused by stormy weather and the death of a passenger on board.
Flight MH002 was supposed to arrive at the UK capital at 1pm yesterday after departing Kuala Lumpur at 11.47pm Sunday, The Star Online reported today.
But the plane was delayed by three hours because of its diversion to Manchester due to strong winds from Storm Katie.
Passengers were stuck in the plane for another five hours at Manchester Airport because of a medical emergency when someone on board died.
The report did not state the cause of death.
“@MAS after 4 hours with no real updates its beginning to wear thin!!! Unacceptable, irrespective of the death of a passenger,” a passenger called Josh Pearce was quoted tweeting.
A passenger tweeted from Twitter handle @jumanjie91: “@MAS Quite easily my most horrific airline experience MH002. Tragedy aside, the lack of communication with passengers was inhumane”.
Flight MH002 passengers were reportedly not served food while they were stuck in the plane.
MAS reportedly apologised for the flight delay.
“In the interest of safety due to adverse weather and closure of Heathrow Airport, the flight was diverted to Manchester,” said the national carrier in a statement.
“Unrelated and unfortunately, we regret that a passenger on board passed away during the flight before arrival in the UK. This resulted in a further delay to await the arrival and inspection by the relevant authorities in Manchester. The aircraft was also quarantined as per regulatory requirements,” MAS added.
