New | Chinese airliner forced to return to Shanghai airport after ‘satellite communications system breaks down’ over South China Sea
An Air China flight from Shanghai to Melbourne in Australia had to turn back after a technical malfunction emerged while it was flying over the South China Sea.
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Flight CA177, which took off at 7.15 pm on Wednesday evening, returned to Shanghai Pudong International airport at about 30 minutes after midnight on Thursday due to the malfunction, a member of staff at Air China’s customer service department told the South China Morning Post.
The Airbus A330-200 had to return because its satellite communications system was down, according to a report on the social media account of the Beijing-based civil aviation website CAN News.
Passengers were transferred to another plane after the original aircraft returned to Shanghai for repairs.
Passengers left on their rescheduled flight at 2.50 am, the member of staff at Air China said.
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The news attracted interest online in China, with some questioning why the aircraft had flown to Shanghai for repairs rather than a nearer airport.