MASwings’ Twin Otter DHC 6400, under the command of Batumalai and co-pilot Impawie, takes off from Ba Kelalan airfield.
BA KELALAN: It takes more than skills for pilots to land a plane at Ba Kelalan airfield or at other short field takeoff and landing airfield (Stolport) in the highlands of northern Sarawak.
MASwings pilot Capt Batumalai Narasimhan said pilots flying in the interior region would have to deal with the weather and wind conditions, mountainous terrains and short runways.
“Our job as pilots is risky because of all these variables. The aircraft that we fly to these areas sometimes have to face the wind and tail wind.
“Besides that, the wind will also affect landing and takeoff,” he told BAT IV team members at Ba Kelalan airfield, yesterday.
Batumalai, who has been flying in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak the last eight years, said the Twin Otter DHC 6400 aircraft used by MASwings was specially designed for short runway and mountainous terrains.
“The specifications for these Canadian-made Twin Otter DHC 6400 aircraft made the aircraft ideal for the kind of short runway that we have.”
Besides Ba Kelalan airfield, Batumalai said other challenging airfields in the state were those in Long Banga and Long Seridan, while the one in Kudat, Sabah, is also tough.
MASwings pilot Batumalai (left) and his co-pilot Impawie.
His co-pilot, Second Officer Michael Impawie Limbai, said because many rural airfields, such as the one here, lacked navigational facilities, pilots had to fully depend on visual visibility to land the aircraft.
Impawie, who has been a MASwings co-pilot for two years, said apart from having to deal with visibility, wind and terrains, pilots who had to tackle Stolport airfields needed special briefings on landing.
“Apart from that, a stabilised approach must be made by pilots before landing.”
MASwings serves Ba Kelalan thrice weekly, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
According to Ba Kelalan airfield ground staff Tagal Labo, the airfield received an average of about 50 passengers from Lawas and 20 passengers from Miri per week.