Ground crew check the Malaysia Airlines flight MH192 bound for Bangalore that turned back towards and parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Monday, April 21, 2014, after its right landing gear malfunctioned upon takeoff.
The harried passengers aboard the Bangalore-bound Malaysia Airlines jet that turned back shortly after takeoff due to a tyre burst and faulty landing gear have hailed the pilot as a hero for being "calm" during the crisis.
The flight MH192 with 166 people on board turned back following a tyre burst and faulty landing gear but the plane landed safely at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at around 1:56 am (local time) early this morning.
Despite their traumatising four-hour experience, the passengers' seemed elated when acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein visited them at the airport's arrival hall.
Many took the chance to tell Hishammuddin of their experiences and of how relieved they were feeling.
The passengers praised the flight's pilot, Captain Nor Adam Azmi for what they described as "excellent landing" given the circumstances.
Businessman Dr K Satish Shetty, from Manipal said he was very satisfied with the way the pilot handled the situation. He said Adam managed to land the Boeing 737-800 smoothly and in a short distance without any untoward incident.
"The problem happened right during takeoff, when we heard a loud noise before the aircraft started shaking. We knew that something had gone wrong, before the pilot told us that there is a problem with the aircraft and they are trying to identify it," Shetty said.
"The pilot then told us that we need to turn-back to KLIA, and we continued flying over Malaysian airspace for several hours to burn the fuel before he made landing attempts," he said.
Another passenger who only identified himself as John, 49, from Netherlands, said, "the crew was excellent and very professional. They managed to handle the situation well and
avoided panicking."
Gorav Puri, a 31-year-old passenger from Sweden, said he was sitting near the wing and he heard a grinding sound when the pilot tried to turn back to KLIA.
"The plane had to make two turns before landing," he said.
"We were quite calm throughout. We were only scared during take off and when we were told to brace ourselves for landing," Puri said.
Indian national Raja Gopal Menon who was on board the flight knew something was wrong with the plane as the aircraft had started shaking. He said that was the only point he was scared.
"The pilot was calm and helped us through the whole process," he said.