Air India Dreamliner diverted to Malaysia after "glitches"

NEW DELHI(AFP) - An Air India Dreamliner was diverted to Kuala Lumpur Wednesday after suffering "software glitches", an airline official said, in the latest of a series of mishaps to hit the Boeing aircraft.

The Melbourne-Delhi flight, carrying 215 passengers, made an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur airport as technical engineers were called from Hong Kong to fix the problem, Air India spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar told AFP Wednesday.

"We called 787 (Dreamliner) engineers from Hong Kong as they were the closest. It's not a big issue. The problem is being rectified," said Bhatnagar, adding that there was no safety risk to passengers.

"Everything should be fine by tomorrow. The flight is expected in Delhi by 8pm (local time) tomorrow." The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet has been suffering technical glitches of late, including an incident where the windshield cracked while landing in Australia last November.

Air India Dreamliner touched down in Australia in September after a 16-year gap, marking the resumption of direct flights to Australia.

The Dreamliner has encountered several serious difficulties since entering operation two years ago, especially with its batteries, causing the entire fleet to be grounded for about four months last year.

In October last year, the fuselage panel of a jet fell off while landing in the southern city of Bangalore.

Scandinavian operator Norwegian Air Shuttle has also criticised the plane's reliability after it found a flaw in the electrical system.

US aviation authorities downgraded India's air safety ranking last week to category two, saying its aviation safety oversight regime did not comply with international safety standards.

The downgrade brought India below Pakistan and on a par with countries like Bangladesh, Ghana and Indonesia, according to US Federal Aviation Administration.

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