KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that its Kuala Lumpur-Incheon flight MH66 made a precautionary return to KL International Airport after the flight encountered a hydraulic issue shortly after takeoff, prompting the crew to divert back to KLIA.

Flight MH66, an Airbus A330-323 (registration 9M-MTB), which departed from KLIA on Sunday at 11.45pm local time, landed safely back at KLIA Terminal 1 at 1.30am, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.

“All passengers have been accommodated in a hotel, and the flight has been rescheduled as MH66D, departing on Sept 2, 2024, at 8pm local time,” the airline said, following news reports earlier on Monday about the flight having turned back shortly after departure.

The return leg, MH67D, has also been rescheduled and will depart from Incheon at 5:10am local time on Sept 3, it added.

Last Wednesday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) had cut the validity of Malaysia Airlines’ air operator's certificate (AOC) from three years to one year after a probe into the technical issues the state-owned carrier faced recently that disrupted multiple flights and raised safety concerns.

The move was to ensure that the airline complies with the mitigation plan that was announced by its parent, Malaysian Aviation Group, on Saturday to address flight disruption issues that was identified by CAAM during its June 24-28 audit. 

In the statement last week, MAG group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail said the global shortage of aircraft parts had affected the on-time delivery of its new aircraft orders, which in turn impacted its fleet planning. He said the group had also experienced attrition of a skilled workforce as new maintenance, repair and overhaul players, both local and international, entered the Malaysian market.

MAG, which also said it would be temporarily reducing its network between now and December to execute corrective measures where needed following the flight disruptions, announced via a social media post over the weekend that it had completed all necessary flight cancellations between August and December 2024 as it cut its network capacity by 20%.

The decision affects routes operated by its three airlines — Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, and Amal — within Malaysia, Asean, North Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, South Asia, and the Middle East.

Prior to this latest incident involving MH66, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai was forced to return shortly after takeoff on Aug 21 due to cabin pressure issues. Two days before that, on Aug 19, a flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Alice Springs Airport in Australia due to a technical problem.

Earlier in the same month, a Malaysia Airlines flight en route from London to Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Doha, Qatar, as it encountered technical issues during cruising. In another similar incident, a flight to Jeddah was forced to return to Kuala Lumpur after experiencing technical difficulties.

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