A Malaysia Airlines plane with 166 people on board has landed safely at Kuala Lumpur airport after being forced to turn back because of problems with its landing gear.

"The aircraft's right-hand landing gear malfunctioned upon take-off and [it] was forced to turn back to Kuala Lumpur," the airline said.

It said fire services at the airport were placed on stand-by but that all 159 passengers and 7 crew members disembarked safely.

Passengers described the landing as smooth.

"It was actually very calm. It was not very rushed - it was a very smooth landing," one passenger said.

The airline said in a statement that flight MH192 departed from Kuala Lumpur at 10:09pm local time and was bound for Bangalore, India.

Malaysian transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said earlier on his Twitter account that a tyre was reported to have burst upon take-off.

"They have landed safely - thank God," Mr Hishammuddin tweeted.

The website www.flightradar24.com, which displays live air traffic, showed flight MH192 repeatedly circling Kuala Lumpur airport before the eventual landing.

Last month, a Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in unexplained circumstances with 239 people on board.

The search for flight MH370's presumed wreckage is still continuing in the Indian Ocean.

Australian search officials say the current underwater search for the missing flight could be completed within a week .

AFP/Reuters