Passenger Recounts "Sharp Drop" During Tawau-Bound Flight That Turned Back To KLIA
She said passengers were fearing for their lives as the plane "dove" 7,000ft about 30 minutes after take-off.
By May Vin Ang — 06 Apr 2022, 11:21 AM
A Malaysia Airlines flight turned back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Sunday, 3 April, after it was said to have "dived" 7,000ft while inbound for Tawau
One of the passengers, Halimah Nasoha, shared her experience onboard flight MH2664 on Facebook.
She said the Boeing 737-800 that took off from KLIA at 2.30pm took a "sharp drop" about 30 minutes after take-off.
Looking up flight tracking website Flightradar24 after the incident, she saw that the plane was cruising at 31,000ft in the air and dropped to 24,000ft "in a matter of seconds".
Halimah related how she "floated" out of her seat because the seat belt signs were turned off and she happened to have hers unfastened
"The plane was unstable for about 10 minutes and took another dive, but it was not as bad as the first drop," she said.
She added that some of the passengers were screaming and crying, fearing for their lives.
Halimah said the flight eventually made a U-turn, circled above Melaka a few times, and returned to KLIA.
She told SAYS that she and the rest of the passengers were offered a replacement flight to Tawau, which she took and finally arrived in Sabah at 9.50pm on the same day.
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that flight MH2664 did turn back to KLIA after it encountered "technical issues"
According to New Straits Times, the national carrier said that as a precautionary measure, the pilot made the decision to return to Kuala Lumpur in the interest of passenger safety.
"Flight MH2664 from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau on 3 April performed an air turn back, due to technical issues with the aircraft, compounded by bad weather en route," it said.
It said the aircraft landed safely at KLIA at 5.03pm.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed that a 'Mandatory Occurrence Report' was submitted by Malaysia Airlines regarding the flight on Sunday.
CAAM chief executive Captain Datuk Chester Voo Chee Soon said they will conduct a review of the airlines' Flight Data Monitoring System (FDMS) and assured that the operating crew made the right decision to turn back to KLIA.
"The pilot in command and co-pilot managed the technical issue safely and returned to Kuala Lumpur for the required maintenance action," he said.
