COPTER PILOT, CO-PILOT LAID TO REST
Late Commander (Rtd) Mohamed Sabri Baharom buried with full military honours by RMN
APILOT and a co-pilot, who died in a helicopter crash in Taman Melawati here, were laid to rest in separate funerals yesterday in front of loved ones and comrades.
The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) paid a fitting tribute to the late Commander (Rtd) Mohamed Sabri Baharom.
The funeral with full military honours was in recognition of his 20 years of dedicated service to the RMN and subsequent contributions to commercial aviation.
The New Straits Times understands that due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Conditional Movement Control Order, the final rites and prayers at Masjid Khalid Al-Walid, near the KD Sri Gombak naval station in Jalan Padang Tembak, were restricted to close family members and naval top brass.
Sabri’s remains were earlier received by family members at 11.40am, after a Covid-19 test and post-mortem at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital in Cheras.
The remains were later taken to Sabri’s home in Wangsa Melawati before burial at the Raudhatul Sakinah Muslim cemetery at Jalan Batu Muda, Batu Caves in Gombak at 2.30pm.
RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany said the navy would miss Sabri’s presence.
“He was a very experienced pilot and flying instructor when he was still in the navy. He was also a very close personal friend of mine,” Reza told the NST.
Former RMN chief Admiral (Rtd) Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said Sabri was a true professional.
“It is so sad. Even though he had left the navy, he will still be well remembered and missed by friends both still in service and those already retired.
“All personnel and their families, inclusive of their spouses and children, are considered as ‘Navy People’, even well after they retire.
“This is our spirit of caring for all personnel and their families, as navy personnel look out for each other ‘from the cradle to the grave’,” said Kamarulzaman.
Two of Sabri’s closest friends, Commander (Rtd) Mohan Ayappan and Capt (Rtd) Ali Idrus, also paid tribute to their friend.
The trio were part of the third batch of people who had trained as cadets at the German Naval Academy in 1984.
They were commissioned as acting sub-lieutenants in 1986 after their graduation.
Sabri’s younger brother, Mohd Faris, 40, said the retired commander was a selfless man who was passionate about flying.
Speaking to reporters after the burial at the cemetery, Faris said his brother took care of their 74-year-old mother for many years.
“He was an active and happy man. Flying was his passion and he loved what he did.
“My brother was hardly concerned about himself, but he always made sure the rest of us were okay.
“In fact, over the past 14 years, he was the one who took care of my aged mother.”
Faris said although Sabri was the quiet type, he was responsible and always kept his family informed about his whereabouts, including when he took the illfated helicopter flight on Sunday.
Sabri, a bachelor who had turned 56 on May 21, was fluent in German and was a prolific swimmer for the RMN during his military service.
He obtained his “wings” from the RMAF helicopter flying training centre in Kluang, Johor, in 1990.
In 2010, he joined the commercial aviation world, flying for aviation companies in the Middle East before joining My Heli Club two years ago as its chief flying instructor.
At a separate ceremony at the USJ 22 Muslim cemetery in Subang Jaya, family members bid farewell to the late Mohd Irfan Fikri Mohamed Rawi, 44, who was on the same ill-fated flight as Sabri.
In relating the moments after Sunday’s tragedy, Irfan’s mother Nafisah Hamad, 73, said some of her family members initially tried to protect her from the devastating news.
“I had a weird feeling that he was involved in the crash, but when I asked my grandchildren and son, who were at home, they kept avoiding me.
“I performed my Zohor prayers and my instincts about it grew stronger.
“I kept pressing them to put me on the phone with Irfan, and that was when one of them told me he was involved in the crash.”
She said Irfan’s siblings knew it was him based on his flight schedule that day, which he had shared on the family’s WhatsApp group together with a picture of the helicopter.
Irfan’s eldest son, Farid Ridwan Mohd Irfan, 15, said his father had called his mother at least nine times before he flew.
“My mother missed his calls because she was busy with some chores.
“When she finally saw the missed calls, the helicopter had already crashed.
“My father was supposed to take me and another sibling fishing that evening. But he has now left us forever,” said the oldest of five siblings.
Irfan, a businessman from Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, was buried at 5pm yesterday.
Irfan leaves a schoolteacher wife and five children aged between 3 and 15.
Sunday’s ill-fated crash involved two French-made Guimbal Cabri G2 in red and blue liveries.
While Sabri and Irfan were in the helicopter with the blue livery (9M-HCB), former Malaysia Airlines Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, 66, and Tan Chai Eian, 51, were in the second red livery helicopter (9M-HCA), which had made an emergency landing.
The Fire and Rescue Department said it was likely that the two helicopters of My Heli Club had grazed in mid-air, resulting in the helicopter piloted by Sabri plummeting to the ground near SJK (T) Taman Melawati.
Both helicopters had left the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang at 11.11am, en route to Genting Sempah, before the accident occurred 22 minutes later at a height of 1,300ft (396m).