MH128 homeward bound tonight, says Liow

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai says Australian authorities screening aircraft in mid-air scare, and should give go-ahead for departure later today.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur but which was forced to return to Melbourne last night, is scheduled to depart at 8pm (local time) today, according to the Melbourne Airport website.

MAS flight MH128, which has been recoded as MH128D for operational purposes, is listed as having a scheduled departure time of 8pm. Based on the flight duration, the flight should  land in KLIA after 2am (Malaysian time).

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the flight will only take off after the relevant authorities in Australia have given the green light on the security and safety aspects.

“They are in the process of screening the aircraft to ensure the safety of passengers. The aircraft will then be allowed to return to Malaysia later today,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.

MAS flight MH128 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was forced to return to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport last night after a passenger became aggresive about 10 minutes into the flight.

The plane turned back 20 minutes into the flight and landed safely at 11.41pm (local time).

The aircraft, with more than 300 passengers and crew on board had taken off from Melbourne at 11.11pm (local time) and was to arrive at KLIA at 5.28am (Malaysian time) this morning.

According to the daily, Liow did not want to speculate if the man was drunk, saying he will let Australian authorities to make the announcement as to the condition of the passenger after it completes its investigation.

“What is important is the safety and security of the passengers on the aircraft.I will issue a statement on further developments later today,” Liow was quoted as saying.

Malaysia Airlines had updated its statement this morning on the incident, denying that there was any attempt to hijack the aircraft.

“Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft ‘hijacked’.

“Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security. Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident,” the airline said, adding that all passengers and crew had safely disembarked after the plane returned to Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Liow said the transport ministry had no plans to impose any condition on the carrying of laptops and tablet devices on commercial flights.

“We are not following the move by the United States as it is not a condition imposed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),” he was quoted as saying by The Star.

He was referring to the move by the White House to ban such devices on flights to the US from 10 African and Middle Eastern airports. -FMT