AirAsia plane in Thailand turns back due to 'irregularity'

Bangkok, Dec 30: An AirAsia flight bound for northeast Thailand was forced to turn back to the capital Bangkok soon after take off on Tuesday after pilots detected an "irregularity" in the luggage compartment.

AirAsia Flight FD3254, which departed Don Mueang airport at 11.10am local time for the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, returned five minutes after its take off.

The incident happened as search teams spotted bodies in the Java sea off Indonesia from an AirAsia jet which vanished with 162 people on board in a storm on Sunday en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

"After departure from Don Mueang, the pilots detected a minor irregularity in the storage area, thus in the interest of safety the flight returned to land at Don Mueang Airport for a detailed inspection," said Thai AirAsia in a statement.

Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said pilots heard "unusual sounds in the luggage compartment" and decided to return to Don Mueang for safety check.

A safety inspection found nothing wrong with the Airbus A320 and was allowed to resume services. However, the airliner could not confirm the reason for the noise.

PTI