Passenger comes to pilot’s defence

KUALA LUMPUR: A passenger on board the AirAsia X aircraft which had been forced to turn back to Perth on Sunday after developing engine trouble has come out in defence of the pilot and crew.

The passenger named Madeline Wright posted her grievances about the public’s condemnation of the crew in her Facebook account on Monday.

In her post, she wrote: “It disgusts me that people are criticising our captain for telling us to pray and are trying to get him fired.

“The full context was, ‘Everything is under control in the cockpit. If you want to say a prayer that might help, too’,” she posted.

“He was professional. He was human.

“He was a reassuring voice during this event and gave us hope, he is the reason I am still alive and I cannot thank him enough.

“For those of you criticising AirAsia, our pilot and (those of us) on board, please stop.

“The bravery of our crew and captain should be praised, not criticised. They did the best they could for us, and everyone is safe.”

Wright also wrote that the public should not blame AirAsia for the technical problem, saying it could happen to any airline.

“A technical problem like this could happen on any plane and AirAsia’s cheaper flights are not to blame.

“The aircraft was checked thoroughly before departure and was regulated by the same air safety organisations.

“People should not be criticising AirAsia for missing anything — technical problems happen all the time, even on more expensive flights.”

Wright’s post had garnered more than 7,000 shares on social media and received positive responses from the public.

Flight D7237 was travelling to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning with 359 people on board and was 90 minutes into the journey when the problem occurred.