KUCHING: Masterchef UK 2014 winner Ping Coombes who is visiting her hometown Ipoh has slammed the media for misrepresenting a picture she posted on her Twitter and Instagram account for suggesting that Malaysia Airlines was flying almost empty planes following the double disasters of MH370 and MH17, according to The Malay Mail Online.
A screen shot of Ping Coombes’s Instagram account.
She tweeted earlier yesterday that the flight she was on was in fact full.
“Woke up to this picture in the media! For anyone who has been on a plane knows, family with children get boarded first, the flight was not empty, it was in fact full.
“It’s really sad that a thank you on a kind upgrade that I was offered is being used to attack an airline which has had such a difficult time. We should be offering support and compassion,” she posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
A number of media outlets have posted her picture as well as that of a number of other passengers to suggest MAS business had been hit so badly by the disasters that it was flying with rows of empty seats.
Ping’s explanation suggests that some of the pictures may have been taken while passengers were still boarding flights.
Pictures of empty rows of seats on MAS flights have been making the rounds over social media and media websites like Mashable.
The past few days have seen British tabloids like the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror also publishing the pictures, including the one posted by Ping.