MAS emergency landings: Technical/human or sabotage?

There is a war of words between current and former Ministers of Transport on the recent incident of another unscheduled landing by MAS. 

The former Minister, who happens to be current MCA President, Dr Wee Ka Siong raised issue with the regular occurrence of emergency landing, turnback, and flight cancellations. He calls for a probe. 

Coming from his political rival, current Minister and DAP Secretary General, Anthony Loke sensed it is weaponise for politics and seemed to have "koyak" (lost his cool in today's lingo). He told Ka Siong not to create panic and question the professionalism of MAS or MAG. 

Whether it is coincidental or unintentional, the new policy announcement for fare refund could be wrongly perceived as diverting the issue. Nevertheless it is a long overdue. 

Had this happened in the past, we would have questioned Ka Siong and defended MAS. Read this 2012 posting entitled "Two MAS engines trouble incidents; Adding two and two together." [Do read it via VPN. Damn Fahmi Fadzil still refusing to unblock Annuar Musa's block.] 

For this, Ka Siong is justified.      

To be fair to Loke, despite 6 emergency landings for June and August, it remain a day-to-day  operational matter of an aviation company. 

Its not the purview of a Minister whose major role is in policymaking and the most operational he could is in control and monitoring to ensure policies implemented and regulation adhered. Government can support in the negotiations for new foreign routes and destinations. 

Operationally, from Ling Liong Sik till the present, an aviation veteran quipped that none of Malaysia's Ministers of Transports ever understood the aviation industry and more so, airline operations. 

He poked further, "Mereka cuma suka syok jalan-jalan lancar new destinations."  

Nevertheless, Loke must be aware of the problem and should have alerted the relevant authorities to look into the matter. He had swiftly acted to cut the duration of AOC for MAS from three to one year and request monthly reporting made to CAAM. 

He could pay MAS a visit and if he had not done so, make his typical surprise visit to MAS hangar and spend time to get feedback from the staff.

 

Quite sure MAS, whose turning around operationally, would not have intentionally wanted it to happen 

Since it happened twice in June, which is defcon 4 alert state for increased intelligence and security for military operations, the airline management should be on the same mode on its engineering outfit. The August incident should not have repeated. It repeated four times! 

Root cause

Feeling rather lazy to research and investigate, we asked Chat GPT:  

What is the root of the problem behind MAS recent plane turnarounds during flight?

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Searched 6 sites

The recent turnarounds of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights are primarily due to a combination of technical issues, engine troubles, and operational challenges that the airline has been facing. In August 2024 alone, MAS had multiple incidents where flights had to return to their departure points or make emergency landings. These incidents included engine problems, cabin pressurization issues, and other technical malfunctions.

Several factors contribute to these disruptions:

Aging Fleet and High Utilization: MAS operates a fleet of aging aircraft, including the Airbus A330-200/300 series, which are among the most heavily utilized in the industry. This high utilization rate, combined with the airline's stretched resources, has led to more frequent technical issues.

Supply Chain Disruptions: The global supply chain for aircraft parts has been severely affected post-pandemic, leading to delays in maintenance and the availability of spare parts. This situation has worsened the already challenging task of keeping older aircraft in optimal condition.

Staffing Issues: MAS has been losing experienced technical staff to competitors, which has further strained its ability to maintain and repair its fleet efficiently. The airline's maintenance team is working under considerable pressure, contributing to delays and operational inefficiencies.

Management and Operational Pressures: Internal management issues, including low staff morale and operational decisions made under challenging circumstances, have compounded these problems. The airline has also been pushing its fleet hard, which, without sufficient maintenance capacity, has led to increased incidents.

In response to these issues, MAS has announced a temporary reduction in its operations until December 2024 to focus on addressing these technical and supply chain problems, ensuring the long-term reliability of its fleet and minimizing future disruptions. 

Sources: Malay Mail * Malaysia Airlines * Focus Malaysia - Business & Beyond * Runway Girl

Quite the usual general and bureaucratic answers lacking in specifics. It does not matter that it is similar to a surprise audit report conducted by CAAM. Still, its bad that MAS is plagued with these problems. 

Sabotage? 

Sabotage was not ruled out as possible cause for MH370 disappearance in March 2014

Whatever the problem, Airlines generally and MAS specifically, at least in the past, do not compromise on safety and airworthiness of its planes. 

More so, MAS is now led by an airliner, NOT a non-owner executives taken from Construction company or Oil and Gas MNC or Accountants from an audit firm or Music Company salesman.

So if it is not technical, it could be human error. However, there are various procedures to minimise such occurrence to zero defect level. That is unless past incidents in Sepang such as below are repeating itself: 

    

March 18, 2005

MAS staff member held over aircraft sabotage

SEPANG - A MEMBER of Malaysia Airlines' engineering staff was picked up at his workplace at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Monday in connection with the sabotage of four MAS aircraft over the past two years.

The 25-year-old man was arrested about 10pm and taken to the Sepang magistrate's court the following day. Police obtained an order to put him in remand for two weeks.

Police Superintendent Zahidi Ayob confirmed that an MAS employee was arrested. It was the first arrest linked to the sabotage of the four MAS aircraft.

The most recent sabotage attempt was detected in January when an MAS A330 flight to Kansai, Japan, had to be grounded after maintenance crew found hydraulic oil spilled on the instrument panel in the cockpit.

The airline received two threatening letters after the first sabotage was detected in 2003. It was unclear what, if any, demands were made.

The latest threat was received in January soon after MSA announced a RM100,000 (S$42,500) reward for information.

The arrest comes days after a special team of forensics experts and airport police set up counters at the airport to obtain thumb and palm prints of some 1,200 MAS engineering personnel. -- THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Below is a case in 2003:

Police Arrest 3 MH Staff Over A330 Sabotage

Posted 2003-10-30 23:47:41

SHAH ALAM - Police have arrested three Malaysia Airlines (MAS) employees suspected of being involved in an attempt to sabotage an A330 Airbus aircraft on Oct 2.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Abu Bakar Mustafa said the three, aged between 28 and 44, were maintenance workers in the engineering department.

Two were arrested on Oct 22 and were remanded until last Friday, he told Utusan Malaysia newspaper on Wednesday.

'The third suspect was picked up last night. Police have obtained a remand order until Nov 6,' he said.

Police are continuing their investigations and may pick up more suspects, he added.

The aircraft in the Oct 2 incident was scheduled to fly from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Perth.

But pre-flight checks revealed that some of the plane's wires had been tampered with.

The flight system also showed a serious malfunction of the cockpit's flight instruments.

Three hundred passengers were transferred to another aircraft for their flight. -- The Star/Asia News Network

There was no report but it is widely known within MAS of two Boeing engines sent to MAS Engineering for MRO ended missing and was found in Mumbai. Cartel within the engineering unit retaliated against  management clean-up of procurement hanky panky within the engineering outfit during the era of Tajudin Ramli.  

Though not by the same bunch of people, such cartel could likely still persist. Possibly, another retaliation to revolt against measures taken to turnaround the company, which require more discipline and stringent practise to their discomfort. These cartels could sell their services to a competitor. 

The nationwide power blackout in 1992, widely believed to be planned, saw the rise of IPP cartels linked to Mahathir monopolising power producing. So who will benefit from a "blackout" of MAS to deviate them from their turnaround path with another stab at public confidence?  

Watch this space.

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