NEWS: Damaged Malaysia Airlines A330 is limping home

A severe hard landing by a Malaysia Airlines A330 at Melbourne Airport has kept it stranded there for the last 10 days pending inspections, any necessary repairs and now, an investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The A330 is now 'limping home'.

It was picked it up on Flightradar24 this morning as MAS5160 crossing Lake Eyre on its way to Darwin. It may be making the trip with its wheels down as a necessary precaution in advance of what may be very extensive repairs at its home base in Kuala Lumpur. The flight data supports that view. The jet is flying low and slow, and taking more than 90 minutes longer to do the Darwin stage that would be normal for a scheduled flight.

This is the Flightaware capture when the data showed it had reached 16,400 feet and was doing 292 knots.

Flightaware Screen Capture (Crikey)

A good leisurely speed and altitude for appreciating the red centre scenery, but not much fun if forecast storms fire up further along the track to Darwin.

By Crikey's Ben Sandilands