Malaysia Airlines flight forced to turn back to KL after defect found
A Malaysia Airlines flight en route from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad, India, was forced to turn back earlier today due to an auto-pilot defect.
The Boeing 737-800, which departed late Saturday night, landed safely back in Malaysia's capital almost four hours later - after circling to burn fuel in the air.
"The troubled airlines said in a statement: "The defect did not have any impact on the safety of the aircraft or passengers.
However, as a precautionary measure, the operating captain decided to turn back.
The flight has been rescheduled to depart Kuala Lumpur today.
Malaysia Airlines has been plagued with two aviation disasters this year.
Flight MH370, which had 239 people on board, mysteriously lost contact on March 8. No trace of wreckage has since been found.
Another flight, MH17, was believed to have been downed by a missile over conflict-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 289 people aboard.
Source: AFP
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