Malaysian helicopter crash: The 10 crew members on board were killed when 2 Malaysian helicopters crashed in midair on Tuesday during a practice for a naval parade, the navy said in a statement.
According to Reuters, Tuesday morning (0132 GMT) around 9.32 a.m., the incident happened at the Lumut naval facility in the western state of Perak.
“All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut Naval Base military hospital for identification,” according to the navy.
At a news conference, Mr. Khaled informed reporters that nine out of the ten navy members were under 40 years old. The oldest was in his 40s, and the youngest was 26. Subsequently, the Malaysian media revealed that among the deceased was 44-year-old Commander Muhammad Firdaus Ramli.
The HOM and Fennec helicopters of the Royal Malaysian Navy collided above the Lumut naval base at 9.32 am, killing all 10 people on board. According to a defence specialist, this may be the deadliest military mishap in Malaysian history.
The minister stated that their remains are being taken to a hospital in Ipoh for a post-mortem examination before being interred according to the desires of their relatives.
According to him, the appropriate organizations will take care of burial costs and investigate providing benefits and compensation to the relatives of the victims.
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The victims were named by the navy in a statement on Tuesday.
Commander Firdaus Ramli, the 503 squadron’s commanding officer, was among the four male crew members aboard the HOM helicopter, together with three female passengers.
Three male crew members, including Commander Muhammad Amir Mohamad, the 502 squadron’s commanding officer, were aboard the Fennec helicopter.
According to Khaled, a navy serviceman was struck by debris and received minor injuries while swimming in the pool that the Fennec chopper landed in.
As per Channel News Asia, the scheduled 90th Navy Day parade for this Saturday has been postponed. On Friday, however, the navy will host a service in remembrance of the fallen.
According to Mr. Khaled, the HOM helicopter was undergoing its first-ever training session, while the Fennec helicopter was preparing for its third parade.
He said that the HOM helicopter, which was located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, flew to Lumut to take part in the rehearsals, while the Fennec helicopter was based in Lumut.
The Fennec helicopter has been in service since 2003, according to the ministry, while the “new” HOM chopper was given to the navy in 2021. Malaysia’s navy maintains seven helicopters in service: two HOMs, four Fennecs, and one Super Lynx.
Social media users shared footage of the incident, which showed seven helicopters flying in an erratic configuration over the base. Then, the pair that split off to the right is shown on screen.
A cloud of smoke and flying debris was witnessed when one of the helicopters veered to the right and struck the second helicopter’s left side with its main rotor. Then the helicopters came to rest.
A reporter questioned Mr. Khaled if initial inquiries had suggested a potential reason, but he stated he didn’t want to “pre-empt” anything.
He stated, “We want to honour the family members’ sensitivities and these things should be thoroughly investigated.”
Mr. Khaled said, “The Director General of Technical Airworthiness (DGTA) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force have assisted the navy in forming an investigation board to look into the accident.”
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According to its website, the DGTA is a government organization that makes sure state-registered aircraft are designed, manufactured, and maintained by accepted international standards and best practices.
According to Mr. Ridzwan Rahmat, principal defense analyst at military intelligence firm Janes, the HOM helicopters are mostly utilized for special forces insertion and maritime surveillance, while the Fennec helicopters are employed for aviator training, as reported by CNA.
“You can see from the video that the main rotor of the Fennec struck the AW139 (HOM) on its portside,” he said.
“This implies that the Fennec was having a sideways skid from the turn’s centre.”
The analyst stated that the fact that the two helicopters were not stationed at the same location and were just practicing together for the first time would have added to the difficulties of practicing for a multi-aircraft aerial performance.
He continued, “Pilot cohesiveness and understanding may not have been forged as well as they should have been before the event.”
According to Ridzwan, the crash on April 23 looks to be Malaysia’s deadliest military disaster to date in terms of casualties, based on open-source material he has analyzed.
According to Bernama, this new collision marks the eighth instance in the previous nine years involving helicopters, both military and civilian.
During a rescue mission off the coast of Kuala Selangor in March of this year, an AW139 helicopter belonging to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency crashed into the water close to Angsa Island. The pilot and the other four crew members survived after receiving assistance from fishermen.
As part of flight training in November 2020, two G2CA helicopters carrying two passengers each crashed in midair after taking off from Subang airport.
A former navy officer was among the two people killed when the crew of one aircraft made an emergency landing and survived, while the second chopper crashed in Taman Melawati.
