A Malaysia Airlines aircraft turned around after detecting an auto-pilot defect on Sunday, according to reports. The aircraft's captain aborted the flight to take a precautionary measure, reports said, citing the loss of two airplanes this year. 

In a statement, the national flag carrier's spokesperson said that Flight MH198 bound for Hyderabad in India was forced to turn back shortly after takeoff when its pilot perceived problems in the aircraft's auto-pilot system.

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"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," the airline added in the statement.

According to reports, the Boeing 737-800 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday at 10:20 p.m. and landed back at 2:01 a.m. on Sunday.

The four-hour difference accounts for the time it spent circling Malaysia's capital to burn fuel in order to land safely.

Flightradar24 tweeted the situation: "Malaysian Airlines flight #MH198 holding and burning fuel after departure http://www.flightradar24.com/MAS198/451ce1e  Reason unknown."

Initial reports cited "burning fuel" as the reason for the plane's emergency landing. In addition, there were reports that the plane was on fire.

Later, the airlines disproved earlier speculations and confirmed that the auto-pilot defect caused the emergency landing.

Malaysia Airlines changed the flight to MH198D and rescheduled it to depart Sepang at 12 p.m. on Sunday, reports said.

In addition, it gave the passengers and crew hotel accommodation while waiting for the new departure time.

Malaysia Airlines had a good flight record until it lost two Boeing 777-200 aircrafts this year.

First was Flight MH370, which lost contact on March 8. It was believed to have crashed in the southern part of Indian Ocean, but no one of the 239 passengers was found.

Next was Flight MH17, which was believed to have been bombed by Ukrainian rebels' missile on July 17. All 289 passengers died.

TagsMalaysia Airlines, MH198, Kuala Lumpur, Boeing 737-800, Malaysia, mh370, MH17