There have been reports of an engine fire on the Airbus A330, which had only just left the Tullamarine runway en route to Kuala Lumpur.
The jet apparently dumped fuel before the emergency landing.
Emergency crews were called to the airport at 2.20pm on Friday, and remain on standby. A spokeswoman for Ambulance Victoria said there were no reports of injured passengers.
The jet was reportedly carrying 300 passengers who remained on board as the plane was towed across to another area.
There are reports an engine was shut down in mid-flight. The incident reportedly occurred shortly after take-off.
A spokeswoman for Melbourne Airport confirmed the plane landed safely on Friday afternoon. She said no other flights had been affected and the airport was operating as normal.
The fuel dumping was standard proceedure before an emergency landing, she said.
According to online flight trackers, the plane – flight number MH148 – did several circles above Melbourne before landing.
It's not the first time a Malaysia Airlines A330 has been involved in an incident at Melbourne Airport. Earlier this year the Australian Transport Safety Bureau launched an investigation into a reported "severe hard-landing" made by a Malaysia Airlines A330 in March.
(theage.com.au)