RMAF fighter jet makes emergency landing at Kuching Airport

KUCHING: A fighter jet of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) flying from Labuan to Butterworth made an emergency landing at the international airport here today after the cockpit nose landing gear indicator failed to function.
The F/A-18D aircraft made what the RMAF later described as a "precautionary landing" at 2.46pm after facing a "minor problem".
The plane was later towed to the RMAF hangar for an inspection, said Sarawak Air Fire and Rescue Service regional manager Wan Johari Wan Shahid.
He said the pilot of the aircraft had called the control tower at the airport at 2.41pm requesting to make an emergency landing.
The Airport Fire Rescue Service (AFRS) immediately made the preparations for a full emergency landing and five minutes later the aircraft made a normal landing without any problem, he said.
The flight operations at the airport continued without any hindrance to the schedules.
The RMAF public relations division issued a statement late evening saying that an F/A-18D fighter jet had made a "precautionary landing" after experiencing a minor problem.
The statement said the cockpit nose landing gear indicator failed to function although the landing gear had engaged.
The aircraft was returning to the Butterworth airbase after taking part in the Paradise 4/2017 exercise at the Labuan airbase, it said.
On Nov 18, an RMAF Hercules C130 aircraft made a successful belly landing at the Labuan airport after experiencing a landing gear fault. — Bernama