AIRASIA flight AK0037 which left for Cochin, India, today was forced to turn back because of suspected engine trouble.

The flight left for India at 6.25am, and returned to KLIA2 after more than two hours into the flight according to the flight-tracking website flightradar24.com.

According to the website, the plane flew for about 1,000km, passing Banda Acheh, Indonesia, before turning back to KLIA2.

A passenger on board flight AK0037, Kanasen Sathiavelu, 49, said the flight was smooth even after the plane turned back.

“The air stewardesses were very calm, they only said it was a technical problem, there was no plane rattling, no passengers screaming, everybody was calm. I only noticed that there was a slight loss of power,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The plane was full, Ganesan said.

He said upon landing some were confused, but most were angry that their flight had been aborted.

“When we landed it was like a normal landing, an air stewardess announced ‘Thank you for flying with AirAsia’.

“Some people who just woke up after landing were confused, most were angry.”

Kanasen added that passengers were told by an AirAsia staff that their replacement flight would be at 1pm today.

“They also gave us a voucher, but I’m not sure what is it for,” he said.

AirAsia in a statement confirmed that that flight had been aborted,  saying that this was “due to a technical reason”.

“The aircraft landed safely and the new flight departure time will be at 3.45pm. In the meantime, all guests are being attended to by AirAsia.” 

The aircraft was an Airbus A320, which could carry 180 passengers. – July 22, 2017