KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — The preliminary investigation report into the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter crash that killed five people in Long Lellang, Ulu Baram, Sarawak, on September 8 is expected to be presented to the Cabinet tomorrow.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said preliminary investigations 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's 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 responding 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 following the Long Lellang crash.
Elaborating, Loke said CAAM had conducted a surveillance audit of Layang-Layang Aerospace's maintenance organisation from September 1 to 4, just days before the crash.
He said the annual audit identified three instances of non-compliance and three observations relating to workforce planning, maintenance task records and documentation of business continuity procedures following an emergency.
Loke said all the audit findings had been resolved except for one involving workforce calculation and planning methods, which was still awaiting CAAM's final verification when the crash occurred.
However, he stressed that the outstanding 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 September 9 to 10, as well as other aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce RR250 engines from September 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.
Responding to 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 Long Lellang crash occurred at an airstrip equipped 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.
