Dear RDFTV

I don't quite qualify as a UK frequent Flier but you may be interested in a rumor I heard today. By the way the source is reliable and honest and I have no reason to doubt her or her sources.

My friend has colleagues in the Travel Industry in the UK who give her advice from time - eg fly this airline, don't fly that airline etc etc.

I was querying my friend about which airlines her friends had recommended or not recommended when the subject of Malaysian Airlines came up. I, like my friend had the general impression that Malaysian was a comparitively safe airline to fly on. Accordingly to the people in travel industry however they recommended otherwise.

The reason they gave was a flight to the UK by Malaysian (I presume ex Kuala Lumpur) in March this year. When the plane landed it had only enough fuel on board for one attempt at a landing - fuel was at critically low levels. The Travel Industry people attributed this to cost cutting due to the Asian crisis. Apparently the incident was hushed up but the Travel people advised my friend to avoid Malaysian.

Maybe somebody else on Webflyer knows more about this incident but it seems to me to be a lead worth a little investigative reporting. Who know there may be a potential air crisis waiting in the wings a la the Kapton incident.

Hope this helps

cheers Peter