KUCHING, May 7: Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Dato Seri Tiong King Sing has called for an end to ‘runaway public opinions’ with regard to the incident involving a flight from Guangzhou, China to Kuala Lumpur on May 1, that required to turn back after take-off.
He noted that the passengers involved in the said incident had been uneasy or dissatisfied with the airline’s response to the incident.
“Passengers who are aggrieved by their flight experience are free to submit their complaints and feedback to the relevant agencies.
“I also take my duty seriously in bringing up matters and areas which can be improved to the airlines.
“However, we cannot agree with persons who make slanderous and malicious comments without basis on aviation and flight safety, which is tantamount to fearmongering and bringing uncalled for disrepute to the airline involved,” he said in a statement today.
Tiong explained that in terms of flight safety and crisis response, all procedures governing the flight’s landing and take-off follow a set of professional and rigorous approval processes, which also involve the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s (CAAC) strict control and supervision.
He also mentioned that aviation safety and flight processes involve many professional technical units working in tandem and employing complex operating systems to ensure safety is without compromise.
“Needless to say, it is also futile to compare technical safety considerations between personal road vehicles and large passenger aircraft.
“If a personal vehicle has a safety hazard, the owner may accept this risk and continue driving the car.
“But aircraft that do not meet safe conditions for flight will not be allowed to fly by the local civil aviation authority,” he continued.
On May 1, the flight, AK117, was supposed to depart for Kuala Lumpur from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, but the aircraft had to turn back to Guangzhou midway during the journey.
On May 4, AirAsia Malaysia chief executive officer Riad Asmat in a statement, clarified that the flight had to make a U-turn due to a technical issue, not depressurisation or an emergency as claimed on social media.
He said the problem was caused by a technical unit that needed to be rectified before any cabin pressure adjustments could be made. While the separate technical unit is related to the cabin pressurisation, it did not cause depressurisation, as mentioned. — DayakDaily
