Power failure forces Malaysia Airlines flight to stop in Hong Kong

A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Hong Kong yesterday after an electrical generator failed on the two-year-old jet.

The airline said the Airbus A330-300 left the Malaysian capital at 11.37pm on Sunday and was due at Incheon airport about six hours later. But Flight MH066 was forced to land in Hong Kong at 2.53am due to an "inoperative aircraft generator which supplies normal electrical power".

All 271 passengers were unhurt and were transferred to other carriers.

The incident came as the search continues for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished two weeks ago, and three days after another of the carrier's jets suffered a shattered windscreen when it hit birds as it landed in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Veteran commercial pilot Jeremy Tam Man-ho said there was usually no need to divert a flight if only one generator failed, as there were two others to maintain supply.

However, Tam, who has 13 years' flying experience, said that it was possible that the generator might have overheated, so landing at the nearest airport was preferred because it could have lead to a potentially serious fire.