Kuala Lumpur, Dhu-AlQa'dah 19, 1435, September 14, 2014, SPA -- A Malaysia Airlines flight bound for India returned to Kuala Lumpur nearly four hours after it departed due to an "auto-pilot defect," the company said Sunday, according to dpa. "The defect did not have any impact on the safety of the aircraft or passengers, however as a precautionary measure, the operating captain decided to turn back," the airline said. Flight MH198 left Kuala Lumpur at 10:20 pm Saturday en route to Hyderabad, but returned and landed "uneventfully" at 2:01 am Sunday, the airline said. It appealed to the public to avoid speculation that could cause "discomfort among air travellers." "Claims circulating in social media that the aircraft was on fire were untrue," it said. --SPA 13:33 LOCAL TIME 10:33 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w