Philippine Airlines plane forced to make emergency landing in Manila after smoke sighted in cabin

A Philippine Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency return to Manila Airport just 20 minutes into its scheduled flight to Tokyo after smoke was sighted in its cabin. The flight to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, with 235 people on board, was forced to return with firefighters and rescue teams dispatched to attend the A340-300 aircraft on the tarmac.

There were no injuries as a result of the smoke, the Associated Press reported.

Investigations are going on to discover what caused the smoke in the cabin.

Airline spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna said passengers will continue with their journey on Monday afternoon (26 September) on a replacement flight.

A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 872 from Jeddah was put into isolation at Manila airport in the Philippines on 20 September because it was reportedly "under threat".

It later emerged the incident was due to a "false alarm". The Saudi Arabian Airlines pilot mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button while approaching Manila airport, which led to security protocols being rushed into place and commando forces being mobilised to isolate the jet after it landed.

The pilot confirmed to the airport tower that he pressed the distress button but did not say until the plane was parked that it was a mistake, the airport's aviation security chief Mao Aplasca said.