Two RMAF pilots killed in crash

> Bodies found in swamp forest with parachutes still attached

KUANTAN: Two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) airmen flying a Hawk 108 fighter jet were killed yesterday in a crash about 53km from its air base in Kuantan.

The two, identified as Mejar Mohd Hasri Zahari, 31, and Mejar Yazmi Mohamed Yusof, 39, were found by the RMAF search and rescue team near Kampung Chukai in Kemaman, Terengganu at about 2.20pm.

Air force chief Jen Datuk Seri Affendi Buang, said they were found 20m apart in a swamp forest, still with their parachute packs attached.

The jet wreckage had yet to be located at press time.

“We believe they managed to eject their seats when the jet started to lose control,” he told a press conference.

The Hawk 108 jet, which took off from the Kuantan air force base at 11am, lost contact about half an hour later near the border of Terengganu and Pahang.

Mohd Hasri, from Bandar Baru Jempol in Negri Sembilan, and Yazmi, from Kuala Lumpur, have been pilots for 13 and 19 years respectively. Yazmi had been a flight instructor for the past six years while Hasri was an operations pilot.

The pilots, who were from the No. 6 Squadron at the RMAF Labuan base, were on flight training and were scheduled to land at the Kuantan RMAF base this evening.

The bodies will be flown by helicopter to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital here.

The RMAF had also temporarily grounded Hawk 108 fighter jets pending investigations into the tragedy.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has ordered an immediate investigation into the crash.

The Hawk 108, an export version of the Hawk 100, is a twoseater, single-engine fighter plane, used primarily as an advanced weapons trainer.