Well it turns out that shortly after they departed Kuala Lumpur, there was a volcano that erupted somewhere in indonesia that was right in the flight path of the plane. In those days they didnt have proper volcanic ash reports worldwide, especially in indonesia. So the pilots had no idea. Anyway the ash plumed up to 40,000 ft an was sucked in the engines which caused them to cease and apparently have one heck of a light show. The descended down to 13,000 and were able to restart. Then they climbed again, and they failed again. Then back to 13,000 and restart. Then they shot the approach in jakarta and the windshield was opaque and couldnt see outside, apparently sandblasted from the ash. They relied on the instruments and were able to land safely, quite amazing.