Transport Ministry will clarify with Malaysia Airlines on recent reports that it was fined by the United States' Federal Aviation Administration for transporting hazardous material on board a passenger aircraft.

Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik was quoted in a Bernama report today that he had yet to be informed on the incident.

Talking to reporters at his office after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Ling said that he would seek an explanation from MAS on the matter.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that MAS was fined RM418,000 (US$110,000) for the offence.

In a press release dated July 1 which was posted on the FAA website, the national carrier was said to have violated the US Department of Transportation's hazardous materials regulations.

MAS was alleged to have shipped an oxygen generator on a passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles on July 5 last year.

FAA also claimed that not only did the carrier fail to declare the generator to the authorities, it also did not notify the crew and failed to meet package specifications for the generator.

It was also alleged that MAS carrier did not provide the required emergency response information for the shipment of hazardous materials.

Upon landing, the shipment was taken from Los Angeles via ground transport to Boeing's commercial repair facility in Seattle before it was opened.

Failure to meet regulations

Based on its assessment, the FAA said: "MAS offered, accepted, and transported hazardous materials that were not properly classed, described, packaged, marked, labelled, or in a condition for shipment required by the hazardous materials regulations."

The case was also highlighted in the July 15 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology .

The publication also claimed that MAS, on May 15, 2001, had transported the chemical hydroxy quinolene onboard a passenger flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur.

When the Airbus A330-300 landed in Kuala Lumpur, it was discovered that the chemical had leaked into the cargo hold and the aircraft's air-conditioning system..

The plane was grounded but the corrosion was so severe that it had to be de-commissioned.

The magazine claimed that this was the second time that FAA has penalised MAS.

The first occurred when the airline's engineering division was stripped of its FAA certification, which it eventually won back after an extensive audit in 2000.

Malaysiakini 's attempts in the past two days to get comments from MAS over the matter have been unsuccessful.