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KUALA LUMPUR: The preliminary investigation report into the crash of a Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter that killed five people in Long Lellang, Ulu Baram, Sarawak, on Sept 8 is expected to be presented to the Cabinet tomorrow.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the preliminary investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that the pilot of the BO105 helicopter operated by Layang-Layang Aerospace Sdn Bhd held a valid pilot licence and medical certificate.
He said the helicopter, registered as 9M-LLF and operating under a contract with the Ministry of Health (MOH), also had valid certificates of registration and airworthiness, and was certified airworthy at the time of departure.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and a final report on the air accident must be completed within one year of the date of the crash,” he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a question from Datuk Dr Richard Rapu @ Aman Begri (GPS-Betong) on the dates of the safety audit, surveillance audit and last inspection conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) on the helicopter operator after the Long Lellang crash.
Elaborating further, Loke said CAAM had conducted a surveillance audit of Layang-Layang Aerospace’s maintenance organisation from Sept 1 to 4, just days before the crash.
He said the annual audit identified three instances of non-compliance and three observations involving workforce planning, maintenance task records and documentation of procedures for business continuity following an emergency.
Loke said all the audit findings had been closed except for one concerning workforce calculation and planning methods, which was still awaiting CAAM’s final verification when the crash occurred.
However, he stressed that the finding was administrative and organisational in nature and had no direct bearing on the technical condition or systems of the helicopter involved in the crash.
“As for the cause of the accident, determining whether there is any link or not would, of course, require a detailed investigation into exactly what happened to the aircraft. A technical report is needed before any final decision can be made or definitive findings reached,” he said.
Loke said CAAM had also conducted verification inspections on other BO105 helicopters from Sept 9 to 10, as well as on other aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce RR250 engines from Sept 10 to 12.
The aircraft were allowed to resume operations after all necessary inspections and corrective actions had been completed and their respective airworthiness had been confirmed, he said.
On a proposal by Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh) to provide more helicopter landing sites in remote areas to improve access to healthcare services, Loke said landing facilities approved or identified by CAAM took aviation safety considerations into account.
He also clarified that the crash in Long Lellang occurred at an airstrip with a runway for light aircraft.
“As for the proposal to establish a national helicopter aviation network integrating the operations of government agencies and private companies, I think it would be quite difficult to implement at this stage. Nevertheless, we will consider the proposal,” he said. – BERNAMA
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