‘Beechcraft aircraft crash not due to technical problem’

was no technical problem with the Beechcraft King Air 200T belonging to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) that crashed at the RMAF Air Base in Butterworth, in December last year.

Deputy Minister of Transport Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the report of the investigation board found that the accident was not due to technical problems.

“Following the incident, the RMAF had sent one of its test trainers to the simulation centre in Texas, United States (US) to make an assessment on the crash.

“The evaluation found that there was no technical problem with the aircraft and this enabled the Beechcraft 200T to be operational again,” he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Aziz was replying to Ahmad Baihaki Atiqullah ( PAS-Kubang Kerian) who wanted to know the outcome of the investigation report on the Beechcraft aircraft that crashed in Butterworth, Penang at the end of last year.

The crash on Dec 21 killed a pilot whilethreeotherssustainedserious injuries. Following the incident, three other Beechcraft B-200T aircraft belonging to the RMAF based in Subang, were temporarily suspended from operations to assist in the investigation on the cause of the accident.

Commenting further, Ab Aziz said the report of the investigation board found that the accident occurred when the trainee co-pilot was doing an ‘Asymmetric Circuit’ which was a simulation when one engine was not functioning.

He said it was a training that must be faced by all RMAF pilots when going on an aircraft transition training.

“The accident was classified as a ‘Training Hazard’,” he said.

Ab Aziz said the RMAF always emphasised on a high standard in all aspects of training and operations and ensured that all its aircraft were well maintained.

“The age of the aircraft was not important, what was important was maintenance, for example the Nuri helicopters which were still in use currently,” he added. — Bernama