Malaysian Airlines Jet
Malaysia Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport July 21, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out what he called overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as international horror deepened over the fate of the victims' remains. REUTERS/Edgar Su (MALAYSIA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER)

Embattled carrier Malaysia Airlines has barely recovered from two major tragedies four months apart when a third tragedy almost hit the airline on Saturday. MH 198 which left Hyderabad on late Saturday bound for Kuala Lumpur had to turn back because of auto pilot defect.

The plane managed to land safely in KL after four hours at 2:01 am on Sunday since it had to circle to burn fuel in the air, ABC reports.

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines assured passengers, "The defect did not have any impact on the safety of the aircraft or passengers, however as a precautionary measure, the operating captain decided to turn back."

Because of the incident, the air carrier rescheduled the departure from KL on Sunday to 1:35 pm from the original 12 noon.

As a result of MH 370 and MH 17 tragedies, the air carrier cut its manpower of 20,000 by one-third in August as well as cut back as part of its $2.1 billion restructuring.