MH2718 at Sibu Airport waiting to be removed.
SIBU: One of the passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH2718 praised the professionalism of the flight crew when the plane skidded upon landing at Sibu Airport here on Saturday night.
A passenger surnamed Ho said that the flight landed smoothly when it touched the ground around 10.17pm in its second attempt to land.
“There was no crying or screaming inside the plane. Everybody was very calm.
“We only realised that the plane had skidded on the runway after we disembarked from the plane,” he told The Borneo Post in a telephone interview yesterday.
Ho said the pilot aborted the first landing and later announced that if the plane still failed to land in its second attempt, they would fly to Kuching.
The businessman said that the problem was the runway was waterlogged.
He said he could feel the plane’s brake being pulled before it skidded and then ‘everything go to one side’.
“The captain then announced that we had landed and told us to follow the instruction of his crew for safe evacuation.
“I must say that the pilot was very professional. I think he stopped the engine quickly when the plane stopped,” he said.
He added the flight crew only disembarked from the plane when all the passengers were on safe ground.
“After that the rain got heavy. So everybody was wet,” he said.
Ho who is a frequent flyer said that it was the first such incident he experienced.
“But I will not stop using MAS or other operators to travel. Life is fated. We can die anywhere,” he said, adding that he will travel to Kuala Lumpur this June.
MAS flight MH2718 from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu was carrying 61 passengers and six crew members when it skidded upon landing at Sibu Airport at 10.17pm Saturday during heavy rain.
In the landing mishap, all on board safely disembarked via two slide rafts and no injuries were reported.