PUTRAJAYA: A preliminary report cites damage to a stabiliser as the cause of the crash of a helicopter in Semenyih that claimed the lives of six people, including then Rompin MP Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis, on April 4.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who revealed this today, said the left fenestron horizontal stabiliser apparently suffered damage when the helicopter landed at a school in Muadzam Shah, Pahang, while flying from Pekan to Subang, Selangor.
He said that an investigation and examination at the landing point showed that the left wheel had sunk into the soft earth at the football field of Sekolah Kebangsaan Ladang Kota Bahagia, Rompin.
The probe showed that the helicopter had tilted as much as 13 degrees after the wheel sank 20 inches into the earth during the landing at the field, he said.
“This type of helicopter has two stabilisers, one on the left and the other on the right, at its tail. The landing probably damaged the left fenestron horizontal stabiliser and the vertical fin.
“There were also traces of excess fluid leak where the left wheel had sunk into the earth and on the grass about 10 metres in front of the landing spot, resulting when the pilot lifted off to hover,” he told a news conference on the preliminary report on the crash, at the ministry here.
Besides Dr Jamaluddin, who was a former minister and Malaysia’s special envoy to the United States, the crash also took the lives of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Datuk Azlin Alias; businessman Datuk Tan Huat Seang; Jamaluddin’s bodyguard Corporal Razkan Seran, pilot Captain Clifford Fournier and Aidana Baizieva, an acquaintance of the pilot.
All of them were on their way home after attending the wedding reception in Pekan of the daughter of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Nooryana Najwa, and Daniyar Kessibayev.
Liow said the left stabiliser fin of the helicopter had yet to be found, and called on the people of Kampung Sungai Pening in Semenyih to contact the ministry immediately if they were to find it.
The stabiliser could provide the clue as to whether the damage resulted from impact upon landing or a mechanical fault, he said. -Bernama