A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane made an emergency landing in Australia this morning.
It is believed that an engine fire may be behind the pilot’s decision to return flight MH148 to Melbourne airport, rather than continuing the planned journey to Kuala Lumpur.
Plane tracking sites showed the flight circling the airport several times.
Fire engines were at the scene but officials at Melbourne airport said the aircraft landed safely at around 15:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
A spokeswoman for Airservices Australia, the government’s aviation safety body, said the plane had reported 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,” she told Reuters. Officials said this was standard procedure for an emergency landing.
The airport is said to be operating normally.