Rescuers located site of Malaysian helicopter crash quickly as pilot had alerted friend
BRINCHANG - A helicopter that crashed in Cameron Highlands on Wednesday had flown into heavy rain and fog, with Malaysian rescuers able to quickly locate the crash site as the pilot had alerted his friend about the incident, Bernama news agency reported.
The pilot, Captain Fedzrol Norazam, 43, was carrying five medical staff from a village in Gua Musang district in Kelantan back to Ipoh when the crash occurred at around 1pm in the hills of Brinchang town on Cameron Highlands, located in Pahang state.
Rescuers arrived at the crash site at around 4pm on Wednesday and rescued all six victims alive. They were sent to Hospital Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom nearby, said Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri as quoted by the news agency. The last victim was moved out of the crash site at about 9.10pm and taken to the hospital.
The pilot had contacted his friend in Ipoh about the crash of the Airbus AS355 F2 helicopter, and this was then reported to the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), Mr Mohd Yusri said.
“Following that, we received information about the position of the helicopter, and the search and rescue operation for the victims, aged between 31 and 48, could be carried out immediately,” he told a news conference at the Cameron Highlands District and Land Office on Wednesday evening, Bernama said.
The rescuers found that the victims had all managed to get out of the helicopter which had crashed into a jungle area.
The medical team in the helicopter was on its way back to Tanjung Rambutan in Ipoh after completing a regular visit to an indigenous people’s village in rural Kampung Gawin in Gua Musang.
“Two passengers suffered serious injuries... One nurse had a fractured leg while one was injured in the knee,” said Mr Mohd Yusri, the news agency reported.
The helicopter was operated by private charter airline Layang Layang Aerospace, said CAAM chief executive Chester Voo.
The aircraft lost contact with the company’s flight operations centre shortly after taking off at 12.20pm, said Layang Layang. It crashed while attempting an emergency landing at around 1pm. An investigation into why it had to make an emergency landing is under way.
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