1st Lead: Malaysia Airlines Colombo-bound flight makes turn back due to "intoxicated passenger"

A Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka was forced to turn back early Sunday due to the "disruptive" behavior of a drunk passenger, the airlines said.

Malaysia Airlines' flight MH179 from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo made a turn back to the Kuala Lumpur International Airlines due to a "disruptive passenger," the airlines said in a statement. "The intoxicated passenger started harassing Malaysia Airlines' crew shortly after the flight was airborne. Due to his big body size, other guests had to assist the crew to restraint the passenger," it said.

According to the flights tracking site Flightradar24, the aircraft circled above Malacca Strait shortly after taking off late Saturday. The unexpected maneuvers caused concerns among Malaysia's social media users.

The aircraft landed after two hours of fuel burn to reduce landing weight.

Malaysia Airlines said the captain decided to make a turn back "to ensure safety and comfort of those onboard."

"Upon arrival, the disruptive passenger was handed over to the authority," It added.

The flight departed Kuala Lumpur for Colombo on Sunday morning.

Malaysia Airlines is struggling to recover after two major air disasters in 2014. Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board while Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people aboard were killed. Endi