Malaysia's airport authority has been ordered to introduce closed-circuit television cameras to bolster security around parked aircraft and conduct strict pre-flight checks, according to reports today.

The report follows the discovery of snapped steering cables in a number of planes that investigators believe may have been cut by vandals.

Chan Kong Choy, transport minister said all planes at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, would come under camera surveillance.

"Each and every plane has to be checked thoroughly before take-off," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.

National carrier Malaysia Airlines and the police are investigating whether the latest malfunction in a Boeing 777 plane was an accident or an act of vandalism.

Snapped cable

Engineers Wednesday found a cable that allows pilots to turn the plane on the ground had snapped before the Bombay-bound jet was to take off with 280 passengers.

The incident comes just weeks after several wires on a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane bound for Australia were found to have been cut shortly before take-off.

Three of the airline's staff were arrested and later released over what a spokesman described as an act of vandalism, not sabotage.

Chan told AFP Friday the government was concerned and had ordered an investigation into the latest incident. - AFP