KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — A Malaysia Airlines flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur made an emergency landing today in an Australian outback town, with passengers reportedly claiming the crew were “preparing to crash”.
News website news.com.au reported passengers on board Flight MH122 expressing their fears on social media, with one tweeting that there was no announcement for 15 minutes after the plane’s engine started to make a loud and disturbing noise.
“#malaysian airlines #mh122. Emergency landing at Alice Springs. The scariest part was that once the engine started to make a loud disturbing noise, the flight attendants all seemed nervous n clueless. For around 15 mins, there was no announcement.15 mins were as long as 15 hours!” Sanjeev Pandey tweeted.
#malaysian airlines #mh122. Emergency landing at Alice Springs. The scariest part was that once the engine started to make a loud disturbing noise, the flight attendants all seemed nervous n clueless. For around 15 mins, there was no announcement.15 mins were as long as 15 hours!
Advertisement— Sanjeev Pandey (@sppandey81) January 18, 2018
Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that Flight MH122, which departed Sydney for Kuala Lumpur at 1.06pm, was diverted due to a “technical fault” on one of the aircraft’s engines and the plane landed safely at Alice Springs Airport at 5.48pm.
“Safety was not at any time compromised and the commanding captain decided to divert the flight for technical assistance,” said the national carrier.
“All affected passengers have been given hotel accommodation, meals and transportation. Passengers will be transferred from Alice Springs to Kuala Lumpur on MH148/ 19 January 2018. The flight is scheduled to depart Alice Springs at 5.45pm and is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 9.50pm the same day.
“Malaysia Airlines is also working very hard to reallocate passengers with onward connections on to the next available flights to their destination.”
