A number of passengers heading for Kuala Lumpur were left stranded in Shanghai last Saturday, after Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH387 made a turn back to Pudong International Airport.

In an email reply to Malaysiakini today, MAS confirmed that the aircraft, which departed Pudong International Airport in Shanghai at 9.45am, was supposed to arrive at KL International Airport at 3.30pm, but it turned back due to a "technical anomaly".

"The operating captain decided to return to base as a precautionary measure. The aircraft landed uneventfully at 11.05am," MAS said.

It did not explain the nature of the "technical anomaly".

The airline said the passengers were promptly transferred and were provided food and accommodation.

Most passengers put on other carriers

"Most passengers were immediately transferred to other available carriers while the rest were booked on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH389 on Nov 15 and MH387 on Nov 16.

"Malaysia Airlines regrets the disruption to its guests' travel plans and reiterates that safety of its passengers remains the utmost importance to the airline," it said.

A Malaysian on board the aircraft told Malaysiakini that passengers began to sense something amiss 15 minutes into the flight.

"After 15 minutes into the sky, all passengers, including myself, heard three very loud vibration sounds from the right wing (of the aircraft)," he said.

He said the passengers were in the dark for the next 10 minutes as there was no announcement to address passengers about the incident.

"The pilot then decided to do a turn back to Pudong Shanghai International Airport and it took about one-and-a-half hours of circling in the sky before we landed," he said.

MAS stresses passengers' safety

The passenger, who did not want to be named, said the aircraft did not park at the taxiway after it landed.

"The plane parked far away from the terminal and it took another 30 minutes before the passengers were picked up by bus and sent to the terminal," he said.

He said there was brief confusion on the ground as passengers sought an explanation, but they were eventually placed at a hotel for the night.

In a letter dated Nov 15 issued to affected passengers at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, MAS said the flight rescheduling was necessary in the interest of safety.

"While it is our duty to ensue on-time departures, flight retiming is inevitable, especially when it is in the interest of the safety of the customers.

"Our primary aim is to ensure our customer reach the final destination safely," says the letter sighted by Malaysiakini.

The letter cited "technical issues" but did not elaborate.

According to Flight Aware, the Boeing 777-2H6ER made a large circle over Shanghai Pudong International Airport shortly after take off before landing back at the airport.

The passenger said he was only informed of his new flight at 8.30pm.

He was to fly on Sunday at 8.20am flight via Singapore Airlines, where he will transit before taking a MAS flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

"However, when I tried to check in the Singapore Airlines flight at 6.30am on Sunday, the Singapore Airlines counter said MAS only booked the ticket and there was no ticket transfer confirmation and asked us to refer back to MAS.

"The MAS counter only opened at 7.15am. You can imagine the mess I faced during those hours," he said.

He was eventually allowed to fly and arrived at KLIA at 6pm yesterday.