AirAsia plane turns back
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, February 9, 2015
A system malfunction forced an AirAsia X flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah to return to Malaysia yesterday.
The incident sparked fresh questions about the Malaysian airline’s safety record as it struggles in the aftermath of the loss of Flight QZ8501 in late December with 162 people on board.
“One auto-thrust was not functioning properly. Actually OK to fly but we are just returning it to base,” AirAsia Group’s CEO Tony Fernandes said, calling it a “minor issue.”
The plane landed safely at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport later in the afternoon.
The QZ8501 flight was AirAsia’s first deadly accident, but it followed two Malaysia Airlines incidents last year that killed over 500 people and raised concerns about the country’s carriers.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared last March after diverting from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing course. The airliner, carrying 239 people, is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean.
MH17 went down last July in eastern Ukraine — believed hit by a surface-to-air missile — killing all 298 aboard.
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