Airliner stuck in Kuala Terengganu after emergency landing, lacks fuel

A passenger airliner successfully made an emergency landing at Sultan Mahmud Airport in Kuala Terengganu yesterday, but now finds itself stranded without fuel.

This is because the airport did not have its own refuelling facilities.

“Fuel supplies for the aircraft would have to be arranged from either Kuantan, Pahang, or Kota Bharu, Kelantan,” Bernama quoted Kuala Terengganu police chief Azli Noor as saying.

The Qingdao Airlines flight QW907 departed from Qingdao, China, at 9.40am yesterday and was scheduled to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 4pm.

However, the report said the Airbus A321neo encountered bad weather and was diverted to Kuala Terengganu after circling in the air for more than an hour, landing at 5.30pm – one and a half hours after its scheduled landing at KLIA.

Its 207 passengers and crew were accommodated in three hotels in Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Nerus pending further arrangements.

Azli added that the aircraft could not be diverted to Penang Airport, which has refuelling facilities, due to insufficient fuel to make the diversion.

Flight tracking services showed the aircraft circling the skies between Jerantut and Raub in Pahang prior to being diverted.

According to the tracking service FlightRadar24, the weather station at KLIA reported cloudy weather at the time.

A total of 12 aircraft destined for KLIA were diverted yesterday, including nine flights originally scheduled to arrive between 3.30pm and 4.30pm but were instead sent off to Penang, Johor Bahru, Singapore and Subang.

QW907 was the only one diverted to an airport without a refuelling facility, based on Malaysiakini checks on aeronautical information publications.

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