KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysia Airlines flight en route to Kuala Lumpur made a turn back to London today due to malfunctioning lavatories, said Flight Alerts on Twitter today.
It said the pilot of flight MH1 performed a U-turn over Belgian airspace after departing from London’s Heathrow Airport at 8.36pm local time.
Flight Alerts, a Twitter account that monitors flight journeys across the world, said the Airbus A380 aircraft dumped fuel before landing safely at the airport.
“No water in the lavatories on board the aircraft forced it to return to London,” said Flight Alerts in a tweet.
Malaysia Airlines when contacted today confirmed the incident.
“Flight MH1 returned to London Heathrow after an hour into the approximately 12-hour journey due to a problem with the water supply system on board,” said the national carrier in a statement.
It said engineers were on standby to rectify the problem as soon as the aircraft landed.
The statement said a new departure time would be determined later due to airport curfew and flight duty period constraints.
“The airline apologises for the disruption to passengers’ travel plans and will assist with the re-booking of flights for passengers with onward connections from Kuala Lumpur.”
Affected passengers, it said, would be provided with accommodation in hotels near Heathrow Airport.
“The safety of the aircraft and passengers remain of utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines.”