Malaysian Airlines plane makes emergency landing at IGI

New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) A Malaysian Airlines plane with158 passengers and crew on board had to land under emergencyconditions at the IGI airport today after one of its enginesdeveloped a technical problem.

The airline''s Delhi-Kuala Lumpur flight MH 173 took offfrom here at 13.08 hours. After an hour of flying, the pilotof the Airbus 330 aircraft noticed some technical problem inone of the engines and decided to return.

The plane landed safely at 15.05 hours under fullemergency conditions, with fire tenders and ambulancesalongside the runway where the aircraft was to land.

"After realising some problems with the aircraft engine,the captain immediately made contact with airport officials onground to alert them about the situation.

"At Malaysia Airlines, the safety of our passengers andcrew is our top priority. At no time, was this compromisedthanks to the swift response of our pilots together with theclose cooperation of the authorities," Azahar Hamid, MalaysiaAirlines Regional Senior Vice President (South Asia) said in astatement.

The airline apologised to the passengers for theinconvenience and said a team of engineers were trying torectify the technical fault.

"We are also working to re-accommodate passengers onalternative flights to bring them to their final destinationsas quickly as possible," he said, adding the airline staffwere trying to make alternative arrangements which includeoffering hotel accommodation as well as re-routing flights forthe passengers.