Malaysia Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Hong Kong

A Malaysia Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Hong Kong Monday after a generator failed, a little more than two weeks after one of the carrier's other jets vanished from radar screens and lost contact with civilian air traffic controllers.

A statement on Malaysia Airlines' official Facebook page said that Flight MH066 was bound for Seoul, South Korea from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when the main generator supplying normal electrical power to the aircraft failed. However, the airline said that the plane's auxiliary power unit was able to supply the aircraft.

Officials at Hong Kong's airport told the Associated Press firefighters were put on standby for the arrival of the Airbus A330-300, which landed without incident just before 3 a.m. on Monday.

The airline said the 271 passengers bound for Incheon International Airport near Seoul were put on flights with other carriers. The return flight from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur, MH067, was canceled.

Malaysia Airlines has also confirmed that one of its aircraft was hit by a flock of birds Friday while landing at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airline said that the birds damaged the aircraft's landing-light lens cover, which was replaced overnight while the plane, a Boeing 737,  was grounded.

The incidents happened amid a multinational search effort for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur early on March 8.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.