Tejaswi Shetty, a research scientist based in Sydney, felt a sense of déjà vu when flight MH 192 from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore developed a technical snag. She was travelling to Bangalore with her three-year-old daughter Siddhi.
Ms. Tejaswi’s travel plan included a stopover in Kuala Lumpur from where they were to board a Malaysia Airlines flight to Bangalore on Saturday night. “But after being given the boarding pass, the flight was cancelled due to a technical snag. I was stranded at the airport with my daughter. We were accommodated on MH 192 on Sunday,” she said.
Unfortunately, after takeoff, the captain reported that MH 192 was returning to KL due to a technical snag.
The four hours on board MH 192, she said, were very stressful as she also had to comfort her young daughter who was affected by the tense atmosphere in the aircraft. Adding to their anxiety was the turbulence, she recalled.
“I am relieved to be back with my family. I desperately want to reach home,” she said after landing at Kempegowda International Airport on Monday evening.
Her mother, Saroja, said that the anxious family had spent all of Sunday night at Kempegowda International Airport after learning about the technical snag. “I managed to speak to my daughter only on Monday morning. She was so stressed that she was feeling lucky to have her daughter with her ,” she said.
Ms Saroja said that her daughter had been working in Sydney for the past 12 years.
The family usually travelled by Malaysia Airlines and this was the first bad experience. “With this incident coming close on the heels of the mysterious disappearance of MH 370, we feel jittery about flying via Malaysia. The airline needs to pull up their socks and ensure the safety of passengers,” she said.
