Trainee crashes RM7m chopper
Published on: Friday, May 29, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A cadet pilot with the Layang Layang Helicopter Academy had a close call when the helicopter she was air-taxiing prior to take-off from the Kota Kinabalu airfield crash landed around noon, Thursday. Sabahan Fatin Nadeera Mohamad Jeffrey, 21, was five to seven feet above the ground when the Bell 206B went down on its side about two kilometres from the company hangar.Fatin, however, walked away with minor injuries. The crash rendered the chopper costing over RM7m a total loss.ADVERTISEMENT Operations at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 went on as usual. However, there was a 15-minute closure from 11.45am to 12pm to make sure the runway was clear for take-off and landing.In a media conference later, the company's Chief Instructor Capt. Sudhir AK Kumaren (pic) said Fatin is under observation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital."From what we gathered from the fire and rescue team at the scene, she was already walking out of the aircraft towards them when they arrived," he said. "From the initial stage we could see that she was in a state of shock. Physically she was fine and by the time we got her to the hospital she had regained her spirit and we believe she will be back and flying in no time," he added. ADVERTISEMENT "At this stage we are not able release the root cause of the accident as it is still under investigation from the respective authorities, including the Department of Civil Aviation and the police. "But we know she would have been very low, in fact she was just positioning herself for take-off and was not even flying in the circuit when the incident took place, thus allowing her to unbuckle and walk out from the damaged aircraft," he said, adding that there was no other person on board.
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Fatin is among four cadet pilots who signed up for the first intake of the Layang Layang Helicopter Academy in October last year. Sudhir said Fatin started the course with the ground school phase and started flying in January this year before going for the second phase of the ground school. "She has already completed her second phase of the ground school and was going for the second phase of flying this week," he said, adding that since Fatin was at a very early stage of flying, she had to wait for about half an hour for clearance take off. The helicopter which is worth about USD2 million ((RM7,278,400), is a total write-off, he said."Layang Layang has three aircrafts for training purposes, operating two at any one time, now we are down to only to two but we will purchase another one," he said. "I am not an expert but from my observation it was from the engine part, because of the heat and it was not like it was burning excessively. There is fuel there and perhaps there was combustion, for all we know it could be fuel burning on the grass," he said when asked if there was a fire following the crash. Towards that end, he said they do not see any reason for this to prevent them from flying. "From our preliminary observation, there is really nothing for us to be scared of and as an academy I have to tell you that I have been training for quite a long time, there are risks we have to take in training," he said. Meanwhile, City Police Chief ACP M. Chandra who was also at the media conference said police received a call from the DCA at about 11.50am. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"Our initial investigations shows that there is no foul play, but we will open an inquiry paper to investigate parallel with DCA," he said, adding that DCA will investigate on the technical side and police will investigate if there was any foul play. In April, a helicopter crash in Kg Pasir Baru in Seminyih killed six people, including the nation's former ambassador to the United States, Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis and a high-ranking member of the Prime Minister's staff.