Drunk passenger causes panic on Malaysia Airlines flight

A Malaysian Airlines plane had to turn back after drunken man caused disruption on-board a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737

A Malaysian Airlines flight was forced to circle the Straits of Malacca for two hours because a passenger became intoxicated and started harassing the crew, said a report from the New Straits Times.

The plane’s erratic movements sparked alarm on social media as users began to fear another disaster for the airline which suffered two major aviation tragedies last year.

Flight MH179 took off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Colombo but was forced to return to “ensure safety and comfort of those onboard,” said Malaysia Airlines in a statement.

“The intoxicated passenger started harassing Malaysia Airlines’ crew shortly after the flight was airborne. Due to his big body size other guests had to assist the crew to restrain the passenger,” it stated.

Flightradar24 also tweeted that the plane was returning after dumping fuel for two hours in the Straits of Malacca to reduce the weight of the plane before landing. For a while, #MH179 was trending on Twitter as people anxiously waited for further news.

The unruly passenger has been handed over to the authorities and the flag carrier has not commented further.