Technical reasons
 

With airlines making statements like this "Malaysia Airlines' flight MH122/ 18 January 2018 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur has been diverted to Alice Springs due to technical reasons" it is hardly surprising that passengers get scared and media get it wrong. Maybe advising passengers and future passengers that shutting down one engine and making a safe landing is something that pilots are trained for would be more informative than just keeping everyone in the dark with "technical reasons".

SPOT ON! Its the deception and not being told that pax hate and will use against an airline. "Operational reasons" and "technical issues" are basically like "cover up" or "we dont want to tell the truth"

If you ask anyone who was actually there , that was about Eric Moodys contribution to the entire thing .

Not a hero ......not a clue .....allegedly.

Isn't "engine stall" a generic term for something caused by a disruption of airflow through the engine (for whatever reason)? Without details of what actually caused the problem, how can you say it wasn't a stall?

When Emirates crashed a B777 during a botched go around in Dubai, they described it as "an operational event".

Declaring a "technical issues" to me is such tosh when really you should say: "One engine shut-down due to an abundance of caution."

Technical issues is just weaselly, airline speak.

Passenger claims: "Passengers on board the flight, which departed Sydney at 1.35pm local time have told of their terror, taking to social media to tell how the plane’s crew were “preparing to crash”.

Mr Wolton said while it was a frightening experience, it proved aircraft can fly safely with only one engine.

We really need to find higher quality SLF.

"The passengers are revolting, Captain" They certainly ARE.

...or a major malfunction? :E
Seriously though - imagine what it's like to be SLF, and hear a loud bang then experience intense vibration.
You'd be ****ting yourself.
Hell - I'm a pilot and I'd be ****ting myself (jeez, that sounded like a blade cutting loose, did it miss the cabin, take out any hydraulic lines, is the whole disk next?).

"Ladies and gentlemen, obviously we have a problem with one engine - the plane can fly perfectly well without it running. We're going to shut it down and quickly drop to a lower altitude as a precaution, please ensure you're seated with your seatbelts firmly fastened...."

Part of the reasoning will include proximity to maintenance facilities.

People fast to kick the feet into MH, as as been said above it appears a solid decision to divert to a pretty much guaranteed CAVOK airport. International airport, facilities, no doubt also on most airlines approved airports. It’s a no brained really.

Fly the plane deal with the issues divert to suitable airport. Obviously not thinking but it’s not a home base for engineering.

So far to me it’s nice work Capt and crew.

damned if you do, damned if you don't..

Anilv

In a twin, that should have nothing to do with it.

Diverting to ASP seems like a sensible call - it's been on the ground for several hours, and not a single PPRUNE post with any photos of damaged components or claims of first hand knowledge. :ok:

Is Alice Springs an international airport?!

What maintenance facilities for an A330 do you think exist in AS Sunfish? I would suggest that the crew diverted to AS because it was closest suitable airport due to its ATC and passenger facilities, the weather and its proximity to their position.

Job well done from where I sit.

Continue on 1 engine over water ???
 

Continuing out over water on one engine when the problem occurred over land would have seemed somewhat insane - and contrary to procedures.

Sounds like a job well done by the flight crew. The brace position call may have been airline's procedure for any landing with engine problems, same as having fire appliances rolling.

Cannot be pleasant sitting watching a windmilling engine banging away outside your window.

This incident seems to bear some similarity to the Air Asia Airbus A330, (9M-XXE) incident near Carnarvon, Western Australia, on 25 June 2017.

Final report for that event due out soon. I'm eager to see what ATSB has to say about that turn-back.

It will be a masterful work of diplomacy...

Darwin had thunderstorms. Alice, Learmonth both ok. Alice is a bit further than Learmonth, but not hugely.

What about Curtain? I'm sure the pax would love a night in Hedland. And it was less than 100 miles away.

Emergency services also come into the equation. Not a lot at Curtin nor Learmonth.
You'd probably do better at Karratha. Might be a bit short for an ailing A330.

Port Hedland however does have Immigration available from time to time.

Not sure about your geography here. More like 300+.
And Curtin was pretty much straight down.

Well there’s LAND ASAP in Red and LAND ASAP in Amber.

Up to the CN and crew to decide which one they fit into and therefore which place they “SELECT” to go based on the information they have at their disposal AT THE TIME isn’t it.

( My company certainly don’t have any charts for Curtain )

You Monday morning quarterbacks need to wind it in a bit.

They all walked away and the operation was safe.