Malaysia Airlines flight MH148 forced to return to Melbourne after engine fire

Malaysia Airlines flight MH 148 bound for Kuala Lumpur has been forced to turn back to Melbourne after a fire broke out in its engine shortly after take off. 

 

The passenger AirbusA330 had to circle around Melbourne airspace for nearly an hour after issuing a squawk 1256, but touched down an hour ago. 

 

There were reportedly as many as 300 passengers on the flight. 

 

https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/609220990497878016

 

Emergency services are now on scene and fire crews have safely shut down the engine. 

 

In a statement, Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) said the fire was out and the aircraft had dumped fuel before making the emergency landing.

Emergency crews were called to the airport around 2:20pm.

 

“The plane landed safely,” an Airservices Australia spokesperson said. “The fire trucks were in attendance but were not needed.”

 

Melbourne Airport said operations were continuing as normal following the incident.