Investigations will be carried out after a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) pilot questioned why the flight path from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur differed slightly on Christmas Day, reports the New Zealand Herald today.The pilot on flight MH132 raised concerns eight minutes after take-off when his Airbus A330 was instructed to fly further south than usual.The plane, which left at 2.23am Christmas Day (7.23am Malaysian time) was heading towards Melbourne rather than a more direct flight path to Kuala Lumpur.The Auckland Oceanic control centre informed him that the flight plan had been given to Airways, which managed air traffic control for New Zealand and South Pacific.NZ Herald reported that Airways would be probing into the matter. However, the passengers were unaware of the changes.“The flight plan the airline filed with us was going to Kuala Lumpur but via a slightly different route than the pilot was expecting,” an Airways spokesman was quoted as saying.Airways will “work closely” with Malaysia Airlines to find out how the confusion came about.New Zealand aviation commentator Peter Clark praised the pilot for his actions.“The pilot has done a very good job by noticing it, querying it and not just blindly flying off and ending up in the Southern Ocean,” he told NZ Herald.Flights on the route often travel around the bottom of Australia to avoid bad weather or headwinds, Clark said.WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan was quoted as saying that the weather between New Zealand and Kuala Lumpur was “fairly calm”, but thunderstorms across northern Australia and Papua New Guinea might have influenced the flight path. – December 27, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has denied that its Boeing 777-ER pilots are being forced to leave the national carrier after undertaking a network rationalisation exercise.While confirming that its rationalisation exercise would have an impact on its pilots, the airline said today they have been offered options, which did not include termination.In a media statement sent to the New Straits Times, the national carrier said the network rationalisation exercise which saw a reduction in capacity and suspension of flights to selected destinations, would have an impact on pilot requirements.However, it also said these pilots would have a choice of career options which include voluntary secondment to other airlines in Asia or the Middle East, voluntary no pay long term leave to pursue other careers, or to remain in Malaysia Airlines and await possible long term vacancies in other aircraft types.MAS added: "The opportunities for secondment to another airline are entirely voluntary for the individual pilot and no 777 pilot has been requested to leave the airline."This came in light of a report by local Malay daily Kosmo, which said 250 Boeing 777-ER pilots would lose their jobs in the wake of Malaysia Airlines Berhad's decision to stop flying from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam, Holland and Paris, France, beginning January 27..It was also reported some of the affected pilots have been offered voluntary no-pay leave for two years and it said MAS ended the loss-making flights to the two destinations after entering a partnership with Emirates, the world's biggest international carrier on Dec 2 to offer seamless international network to customers.

KUALA TERENGGANU: Terengganu saw a further increase in the number of flood evacuees when Dungun too got hit by flood last night.As at 8.40am today, a total of 1,661 victims from 495 families are seeking shelter at 31 relief centres in Dungun, Marang, Hulu Terengganu and Kemaman.Last night alone, a total of 793 victims from 232 families were evacuated to 19 relief centres.In Dungun, 188 victims of 56 families were evacuated to 4 relief centres.State Welfare Department portal stated that 991 victims from 243 families were moved to 15 relief centres in Kemaman.The portal also recorded 474 victims from 194 families being sheltered at 11 relief centres in Hulu Terengganu.Meanwhile eight victims from a family were retained at Dewan Sivik Wakaf Tapai.