 SEPANG, April 21 — Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein praised the pilot of a troubled Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight that made a safe emergency landing at the KL International Airport (KLIA) early today, saying he had discharged his duty in a professional manner. “The passengers, despite being tired, expressed their admiration for the pilot’s skilful handling of the aircraft in making the emergency landing safely without any harm to the passengers. “They voiced this when I met them and they are most thankful to the pilot,” he told reporters at the KLIA flight management building here. Also present at the press conference was the pilot, Capt Nor Adam Azmi Abdul Razak, and several of the other crew. Flight MH192, which departed for Bengaluru, India, with 159 passengers and seven crew at 10.09pm yesterday, suffered a landing gear malfunction upon take-off and turned back to KLIA. It landed safely at 1.56am today. Hishammuddin met the passengers at the KLIA satellite building soon after the emergency landing. He also instructed MAS to prepare a report on the incident for the ministry and the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “Although MAS is under Khazanah Nasional, we want a comprehensive report by Wednesday. “This is because there have been many incidents involving MAS, including the disappearance of flight MH370. The report has to be handed to my ministry and the cabinet,” he said. As the press conference ended, pilot Nor Adam Azmi and co-pilot Prakash Kumar declined to be interviewed by reporters and left with Hishammuddin into an office in the building. Nor Adam Azmi was seen smiling as Hishammuddin placed a pilot’s cap on his head as a gesture of appreciation. However, an emotional Nor Adam Azmi held the cap which shielded his teary eyes as he hurried away from the reporters. The flight MH192 episode drew global reaction, especially from netizens, as the air turnback by the MAS flight came not long after the disappearance of the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing MAS flight, MH370, on March 8. That flight had also teportedly made an air turnback. Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later, while over the South China Sea. It was to have arrived in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day. A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learned that the plane had veered off course, along two corridors — the northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand and the southern corridor, from Indonesia to the Southern Indian Ocean. Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded that flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak then announced on March 24, 17 days after the disappearance of the aircraft, that flight MH370 “ended in the Southern Indian Ocean”. — Bernama
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