UPDATED: Adds airline, ATSB comment confirming no external fire SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysia Airlines flight returned safely to Melbourne airport on Friday, having turned back within minutes of take-off after an engine fire alert went off, airport and airline officials said. The Airbus A330 aircraft MH148 was carrying 300 passengers and heading from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur. 'There was an emergency declared, there was an 'engine fire' alert in the cabin. The plane proceeded to dump the fuel and returned to land and it landed safely at the aviation rescue sites,' a spokeswoman at Airservices Australia told Reuters by phone. However, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said there was no indication of fire after landing. Malaysia Airlines also said in a statement that a preliminary inspection revealed no evidence of fire externally, and further assessments were underway. 'The Airbus 330 is being inspected by Malaysia Airlines’ engineers and ground personnel,' the statement added. All of the passengers on board the flight were disembarked. Malaysia Airlines was involved in two air disasters in 2014 with MH370 disappearing over the southern Indian Ocean last March and MH17 being shot down over Ukraine a few months later. The incident could further dent confidence in the 'technically bankrupt' Malaysian carrier, whose decline began long before the tragic events of last year.

We can confirm that the MH148 aircraft has landed safely @melair. All operations at Melbourne Airport continue as normal.

— Melbourne Airport (@Melair) June 12, 2015 [MH148] Preliminary inspection on the aircraft reveals no physical evidence of fire externally. Safety is our utmost priority. — Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) June 12, 2015

MH148 MEL-KUL made an air-turn back and landed uneventfully. The aircraft is being grounded for investigation. More details to follow.

— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) June 12, 2015   #MH148 landed safely after fire in starboard engine, per Melbourne FD. Fire out, all safe. http://t.co/feQR7elKQp pic.twitter.com/kn0UUOxXPM — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 12, 2015

I understand around 300 people were on board #MH148 when it made emergency landing @Melair @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/o3mDs93YN9

— Simon Love (@SimoLove) June 12, 2015 --------------------  

• Fifteen months ago, Malaysia Airlines' Flight MH370 had gone missing while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board. The Boeing 777 is yet to be tracked down.

• Highlights - Report on missing Malaysian airliner one year on Published on March 9, 2015 REUTERS

The Boeing 777-200ER disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board. Following are some main points from the team, which included investigators from the United States, Britain, China, France and Australia. - MH370 was spotted making a turn-back by Malaysian primary radars operated by both the military and civil aviation authorities. Thai radars also spotted MH370, but Bangkok's air traffic controllers 'did not pay much attention' as the flight did not fall under Thailand's flight information region. - Indonesian air traffic control radar in Medan, in the north of Sumatra island, did not pick up MH370 'for unknown reasons' despite having a range of 240 nautical miles. The Indonesian military picked up MH370's radar plot as it was heading towards its last confirmed position, at 35,000 feet about 90 miles off the east coast of Malaysia, heading towards Vietnam, but 'no other information was made available'. - Investigations revealed nothing suspicious in the financial, medical or personal histories of pilots or crew, or in behaviour before the flight. - The aircraft's transponder, which was switched off just before the aircraft made the turn-back, was 'operating satisfactorily' until it was lost on the air-traffic control screen. - There was no message from the aircraft reporting a system failure. - The investigation team found that a battery powering MH370's flight data recorder's underwater locator beacon, which will send a signal if a crash occurs in the water, had expired in December 2012 and had not been replaced. This was because the engineering department's computer system was not properly updated. - This was not noted until after MH370 disappeared, and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) engineers carried out a fleet-wide inspection of underwater locator beacons to ensure that the records for all of its aircraft were updated. - The failure of the beacon, however, does not affect the recorder itself, and the investigation team did not point out any problems with the black boxes. - The investigators confirmed the aircraft's right wing-tip was damaged during an accident while taxiing in Shanghai in 2012. It was repaired by a Boeing team there. - Data from the aircraft's communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) revealed no unusual engine behaviour on take-off. - Weather reports showed no adverse weather at last point of contact. - The report included transcripts of increasingly worried exchanges between air-traffic control centres and the MAS ground operations centre about the missing plane. - A final report will not be issued until the investigation has been completed. Until then, the investigation team has to release an interim statement on each anniversary of the disappearance, detailing progress and any safety issues.  

•  On July 17 last year, Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing 298 passengers and crew on board. It is believed that a missile had hit the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in the skies of war zone in Ukraine.

   

• Malaysian airliner downed in Ukraine war zone Published on July 18, 2014

REUTERS HRABOVE:  A Malaysian airliner was brought down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, July 17, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels that has set Russia and the West at daggers drawn. As the United States said the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was 'blown out of the sky', probably by a ground-launched missile, Ukraine and Russia traded accusations of blame, cranking up global pressure for a way out of a bloody local conflict that risks fueling a new Cold War. Ukraine accused pro-Moscow militants, aided by Russian military intelligence officers, of firing a long-range, Soviet-era SA-11 ground-to-air missile. Leaders of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic denied any involvement and said a Ukrainian air force jet had brought down the intercontinental flight. But separatists have said that they took control of such a missile system last month and had used it to shoot down a Ukrainian military transport plane that was destroyed on Monday. The scale of the disaster, which left scores of unsuspecting foreigners, adults and children, strewn lifeless across the muddy Ukrainian steppe, could prove a turning point for international pressure to resolve the crisis. It has killed hundreds in since protests toppled the Moscow-backed president in Kiev in February and Russia annexed the Crimea a month later. The United Nations Security Council plans an emergency meeting on Ukraine on Friday, diplomats said. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged a full international investigation. Reuters journalists saw burning and charred wreckage bearing the red and blue Malaysia insignia and dozens of bodies strewn in fields near the village of Hrabove, 40 km (25 miles) from the Russian border near the rebel-held regional capital of Donetsk. More than half of the dead, 154 people, were Dutch. Another 27 were Australian and 23 Malaysian. The Ukrainian government, condemning an act of 'terrorism', released recordings it said were of Russian intelligence officers discussing the shooting down of a civilian airliner by rebels who may have mistaken it for a Ukrainian military plane. Russian President Vladimir Putin pinned the blamed on Kiev for renewing its offensive against the rebels two weeks ago after a ceasefire failed to hold. The Kremlin leader called it a 'tragedy' but did not say who brought the Boeing down. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the jet was 'blown out of the sky' and a U.S. official said that, while its origin was unclear, a surface-to-air missile was probably responsible. After the downing of several Ukrainian military aircraft in the area in recent months, including two this week, Kiev had accused Russian forces of playing a direct role. International air lanes had remained open, though only above 32,000 feet. The Malaysia plane was flying 1,000 feet higher, officials said. U.S. President Barack Obama said it was unclear whether Americans were aboard. A Ukrainian official said there were 23. As word came in of what Ukraine's Western-backed president called a 'terrorist attack', Obama was on the phone with Putin, discussing a new round of economic sanctions that Washington and its EU partners imposed to try to force Putin to do more to curb the revolt against the Western-backed government in Kiev. They noted the early reports during their telephone call, the White House said, adding that Obama warned of further sanctions if Moscow did not change course in Ukraine. WRECKAGE, BODIES Malaysia Airlines said air traffic controllers lost contact with flight MH-17 in the afternoon as it flew over eastern Ukraine towards the Russian border, bound for Asia with 280 passengers and 15 crew aboard. Flight tracking data indicated it was at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet when it disappeared. That would be beyond the range of smaller rockets used by the rebels to bring down helicopters and other low-flying Ukrainian military aircraft - but not of the SA-11 system which a Ukrainian official accused Russia of supplying to the rebels. Separatists have been quoted in Russian media saying they had acquired one. One group was quoted as saying that it used an SA-11 on Monday to bring down an Antonov An-26 turboprop plane - a loss that the Ukrainian forces had confirmed this week along with the downing of a Sukhoi Su-25 fighter on Wednesday. 'I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang,' one local man at told Reuters at Hrabove, known in Russian as Grabovo. 'Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke.' An emergency worker said at least 100 bodies had been found so far and that debris was spread over 15 km (9 miles). People were scouring the area for the black box flight recorders and separatists were later quoted as saying they had found one. Kiev complained that separatists who are the main force in the area prevented Ukrainian officials from reaching the site. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak demanded swift justice for those responsible and said the crash site must not be interfered with before international experts had access. 'MH-17 is not an incident or catastrophe, it is a terrorist attack,' Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted. He has stepped up his military campaign against the rebels since a ceasefire late last month failed to produce any negotiations. One rebel leader, the self-styled prime minister in Donetsk, said they could agree a truce of two or three days to help with investigation of the incident. Russia, which Western powers accuse of trying to destabilise Ukraine to maintain influence over its old Soviet empire, has accused Kiev's leaders of mounting a fascist coup. It says it is holding troops in readiness to protect Russian-speakers in the east - the same rationale it used for taking over Crimea. Ukrainian Interior Ministry official Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook: 'Just now, over Torez, terrorists using a Buk anti-aircraft system kindly given to them by Putin have shot down a civilian airliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.' The Buk - which means beech tree in Russia - is a 1970s vintage, truck-mounted, radar-guided missile system, codenamed SA-11 Gadfly by Cold War NATO adversaries. It fires a 5.7-metre (19-foot), 55-kg (110-lb) missile for up to 28 km (18 miles). 'There is no limit to the cynicism of Putin and his terrorists!' Gerashchenko wrote on the social media site. 'Europe, USA, Canada, the civilised world, open your eyes! Help us in any way you can! This is a war of good against evil!' He also published a photograph he said showed a Buk launcher in the centre of the town of Torez on Thursday. It was not possible to verify the image. On June 29, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted a separatist spokesman in Donetsk as saying they had taken control of a Buk air-defence system. REBEL ACCUSATION The military commander of the rebels, a Russian named Igor Strelkov, had written on his social media page at 1337 GMT, that his forces had brought down an Antonov An-26 in the same area. It is a turboprop transport plane of a type used by Ukraine's forces. There was no comment on that from Ukrainian officials. Flight MH-17 could have been in that area around that time, just over three hours after it took off from Schipol airport. Several Ukrainian planes and helicopters have been shot down in four months of fighting in the region. Ukraine had said an An-26 was shot down on Monday and one of its Sukhoi Su-25 fighters was downed on Wednesday by an air-to-air missile - Kiev's strongest accusation yet of direct Russian involvement, since the rebels do not appear to have access to aircraft. Moscow has denied its forces are involved in any way. The loss of MH-17 is the second disaster for Malaysia Airlines this year, following the mysterious loss of flight MH-370. It disappeared in March with 239 passengers and crew on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. In 2001, Ukraine admitted its military was probably responsible for shooting down a Russian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 78 people on board. A senior Ukrainian official said it had most likely been downed by an accidental hit from an S-200 rocket fired during exercises. In 1983, a Soviet jet fighter shot down a South Korean airliner after it veered off course into Russian air space and failed to respond to attempts to make contact. All 269 passengers and crew were killed. In 1988, the U.S. warship Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner over the Gulf, killing all 290 passengers and crew, in what the United States said was an accident after crew mistook the plane for a fighter. Tehran called it a deliberate attack.    

• Malaysian airliner crash investigators appeal for missile witnesses Published on March 30, 2015

REUTERS AMSTERDAM:Dutch prosecutors said on Monday they are looking for witnesses in eastern Ukraine who may have seen a Russian-made BUK rocket being fired at Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, although they added that they have not yet concluded what caused the crash. The Netherlands is leading an international investigation into the disaster, which killed 298 passengers and crew, two-thirds of them Dutch nationals, on July 17. Western governments and Kiev, citing intelligence intercepts, have repeatedly blamed pro-Russian rebels. Moscow said the plane was hit by a Ukrainian fighter jet's missile. Prosecutors said they have gained a 'clearer impression' about the BUK-missile theory -- one of four initial scenarios being investigated. They gave no further details. 'Within this scenario, the investigation team is looking for witnesses who can speak about the transportation, personnel and firing of a BUK-missile system in the region of Donbass in eastern Ukraine,' a statement issued by the prosecutors said. 'This appeal for witnesses does not mean that police and prosecutors have definitively concluded what caused MH17 to crash,' the statement said. 'For that, more investigation is needed.' A video appeal, carrying images of the BUK weapon system on a flatbed truck and audio recordings of intercepted telephone conversations between pro-Russian separatists, was being aired on television and radio and distributed on websites and social media. Witnesses were called upon to provide information to the joint international investigation, which also includes officials from Belgium, Ukraine, Australia and Malaysia.    

• Missile maker says Russia did not shoot down Malaysian plane over Ukraine (Published on June 2, 2015)

REUTERS MOSCOW: The Russian company that makes the BUK air defense system that was used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner in east Ukraine said the plane was hit by a missile deployed by Ukraine and not widely used by Russia's military. State-run Almaz-Antey said its own analysis of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane brought down on July 17 last year, killing 298 people, indicated it was hit by a BUK 9M38M1 surface-to-air missile armed with a 9H314M warhead. Shrapnel holes in the plane were consistent with that kind of missile and warhead, it said. Such missiles have not been produced in Russia since 1999 and the last ones were delivered to foreign customers, it said, adding that the Russian armed forces now mainly use a 9M317M warhead with the BUK system. 'Neither the company nor its enterprises could have supplied these rockets in the 21st century,' Almaz-Antey's chief executive, Yan Novikov, told a news conference run by the Kremlin press service at which the company used 3D visuals and computer animation. After a company presentation translated simultaneously into three languages, he said Ukraine's armed forces had still had nearly 1,000 such missiles in its arsenal in 2005, when it held talks with Almaz-Antey on prolonging their lifespan. Criticizing sanctions imposed on Almaz-Antey by the European Union, he said: 'The corporation was not involved in the Malaysian Boeing catastrophe. Correspondingly, the economic sanctions applied to the corporation for that are ... unjust.' When it imposed the sanctions on Almaz-Antey, the EU said the firm produced anti-aircraft weaponry which the Russian authorities have supplied to pro-Russian separatists fighting Kiev's forces in east Ukraine. Moscow is trying to deflect blame for the shooting down of the airliner and denies sending arms and soldiers to support the rebels, though the West and Kiev say they have overwhelming proof of the latter. Russian officials initially said flight MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet but that version was widely ridiculed abroad. They now say it was probably hit by a missile fired from the ground by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has denied its forces shot the plane down. Dutch investigators who are leading an international investigation say their 'leading scenario' is that it was hit by a Russian-made BUK.