THE pilot of a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350 declared an emergency shortly after taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Paris, yesterday.
Flight MH21 departed from CDG at 11.55 am local time (CET), about 45 minutes later than originally scheduled due to snowy conditions at the airport.
According to reports, the Airbus A350 aircraft with registration 9M-MAB took off from runway 27L but stopped climbing at an altitude of 4,572 meters.
The crew then declared an emergency (squawk code 7700) while in central French airspace due to a problem with the aircraft's guidance system.
According to the flight tracking website flightaware.com, the plane turned back and landed at CDG at 3.36 pm local time.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines confirmed that flight MH21 experienced technical problems before turning back and landing safely at CDG.
In a statement, it said that the turning back after take-off was a precautionary measure following the detection of abnormalities in engine indicators.
Replacement flight MH21D is, however, scheduled to depart from CDG at 1 pm Paris time today.
"In accordance with standard flight safety procedures, the flight crew requested operating priority and complied with Air Traffic Control instructions.
"This included the use of an emergency transponder code to facilitate a safe re-landing at CDG for technical checks.
"The aircraft then landed safely at 3.35 pm, Paris local time," it said. – January 8, 2026
