A Malaysia Airlines plane with 166 people aboard landed safely early on Monday after turning back to Kuala Lumpur due to a landing gear problem.

“The aircraft’s right-hand landing gear malfunctioned upon take-off and was forced to turn back to Kuala Lumpur,” said the airline, which is still reeling from the loss and presumed crash of flight MH370.

“All 159 passengers and 7 crew members on board are being disembarked from the aircraft.”

Flight MH192 departed from Kuala Lumpur at 10.09pm on Sunday (0009 AEST MOnday) bound for Bangalore.

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said earlier on his Twitter feed that a tyre was reported to have burst on take-off.

“They have landed safely – thank God,” tweeted Hishammuddin, who is overseeing Malaysia’s response to MH370.

MH370 disappeared on March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is believed to have inexplicably diverted and crashed into the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.