KUALA LUMPUR: The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) will investigate the AirAsia flight which made an emergency landing after an engine caught fire mid-flight on Wednesday night (March 26).
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that he was briefed by the authority on the incident the same night but would reserve comment pending the investigation.
"I do not want to preempt anything as the incident will be investigated by the authorities," he told reporters after launching the new open payment system for the Rapid KL On-Demand (DRT) at the KL-Rapid Depot in Cheras on Thursday.
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Loke added that AirAsia will be issuing a statement soon on the incident.
On Wednesday, the Airbus A320 with 171 passengers and crew on board bound for Shenzhen, China, was forced to turn back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) shortly after takeoff due to a reported engine fire.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations) Ahmad Mukhlis Mukhtar confirmed that the department was alerted to the emergency landing at about 10.37pm on Wednesday and dispatched a Fire Rescue Tender vehicle with nine personnel to the scene.
Flight AK128, which departed at 9.59pm, landed safely at KLIA 2 at 12.08am, with the fire already extinguished.
It was said that the aircraft suffered pneumatic ducting burst with the fire contained by the onboard Halon system before landing, Ahmad added.
He said firefighters assisted in evacuating passengers while also ensuring no further fire hazards.
