KUCHING: The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) said only the director general could issue official statements on the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crash that happened off the coast of Bintulu on Thursday.
A Kuching DCA regional office III spokesman stressed that any development on the incident, such as whether or not the helicopter owned by MHS Aviation Berhad had been successfully lifted out of the sea as claimed by an unofficial source here, could only be confirmed by the director general.
“The official statement will only be issued when the report is sent to the DCA’s headquarters.
“Kuching DCA is also not at liberty to issue any statement as the case has been classified as a government secret,” he told Bernama yesterday.
Bernama had earlier contacted MHS Aviation Berhad headquarters in Petaling Jaya for more information, but was told that only the company’s CEO could issue a statement on the mishap.
In Thursday’s incident, a helicopter carrying two pilots and six workers assigned by a contractor of Malaysian oil and gas company, Petronas was forced to make an emergency landing on the water about 159 kilometres off Bintulu.