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Slide deployed in AirAsia emergency evacuation
An AirAsia flight was forced to return immediately after taking off from Langkawi International Airport, leading to an emergency evacuation.
Just minutes after wheels up it turned around and Flight AK9327 landed safely back atL langkawi.
However the ‘technical issue’ reported was deemed serious enough for the emergency slides to be deployed.
Fire crews met the plane on the airport tarmac as a precaution.
Video footage showed passengers exiting down the emergency slide some carrying hand luggage, which is against normal safety protocol.
The plane was taken out of service and a replacement jet took passengers to Kuala Lumpur.
"The safety of our guests is our utmost priority and we strive to provide as much assistance as possible in these circumstances," the carrier said.
The replacement flight arrived in KL eight hours behind its original schedule, according to flight tracking site Flight Radar 24.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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