Airline Accidentally Makes Fun Of Flight 370

As authorities race against the clock to find the missing Malaysia Airlines plane’s black box, a poorly-timed article in another airline’s in-flight magazine prompted outrage and an apology from the company’s executive chairman. In the latest issue of Travel3Sixty magazine, AirAsia published an article boasting of its pilots’ proficiency, and assured passengers that its planes “will never get lost.” Whoops.

“Pilot training in AirAsia is continuous and very thorough,” the blurb read. “Rest assured that your captain is well prepared to ensure your plane will never get lost.”

The piece went to print well before the disappearance of Flight MH370, but because the issue itself was only recently released, the article gave the impression that AirAsia was making an astonishingly inappropriate joke at the expense of passengers on the missing flame. After picture of the article hit social media, AirAsia’s executive chairman immediately apologized for the unfortunate faux-pas.

“It truly saddens me that this article was released at such an inopportune moment,” Kamarudin Meranun said in a statement. “I repeatedly offer my sincere apologies for any discomfort this may have caused.”

He added that disciplinary action would be taken against the magazine’s editorial team (which seems a bit harsh, given that the episode was purely the result of coincidence and bad timing).

The magazine, obviously, is being withdrawn from AirAsia's planes.