KOTA KINABALU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau town in Sabah allegedly dove suddenly and flew erratically before being turned back on Sunday (April 3), a passenger on the flight claimed.

The airline said in a statement on Wednesday that Flight MH2664 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) turned back due to "technical issues" with the aircraft.

Passenger Halimah Nasoha wrote on Facebook about her experience some 30 minutes into the 2.30pm flight, saying many passengers panicked, screamed and some cried as the aircraft lost altitude sharply about 30 minutes into the flight.

She claimed that a flight radar tracker displayed in the cabin showed that the flight had dropped from 25,000 feet to 23,000 feet (7,620m to 7,010m) - a drop of 610m.

"It was very frightening for many of us. I really felt like I was going to die," she wrote on Facebook.

"I was upset because I didn't wear a seatbelt at that time," she said, adding that she "floated" off her seat due to this.

"The flight was unstable. It went up and then went down. But, the first time it went downwards was the worst," she added.

Malaysia Airlines said in its statement that the technical problems were "compounded by bad weather en route", but did not offer more details.

The pilot turned back to KLIA as a precautionary measure, in the interest of passenger safety, the company said.

The aircraft landed safely in Kuala Lumpur at 5.03pm.

Malaysia Airlines said the safety of its crew and passengers were of utmost importance.

Ms Halimah praised the efficiency of the pilots in handling the emergency situation.