News Digest

Malaysia Airlines jet forced to make emergency landing after fire warning

A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane has been forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne after a warning of a fire on board, according to Australian officials. Flight 148 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, which was carrying 300 passengers and crew, landed without incident or injury, an airport spokeswoman said. "The pilot called an emergency landing and as standard procedure when a pilot calls any sort of emergency landing, emergency personnel are currently on site,“ an Australian official said shortly after the plane landed.

Preliminary inspection reveals no physical evidence of fire externally, and further assessment is under way. Safety is of the utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines.

Malaysian Airlines statement

She confirmed the jet had dumped fuel and said it was standard procedure before an emergency landing. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said later that its inspectors did not find any signs of fire. The carrier itself said in a statement the Airbus 330 was "being inspected by Malaysia Airlines’ engineers and ground personnel”. Malaysian Airlines lost two airliners in disasters in 2014. MH370 went missing in May 2014 with 239 passengers and crew still unaccounted for and Flight MH17 was downed in a suspected ground-to-air missile attack over Ukraine in July last year.