SEBERANG PERAI, Nov 17 — The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has been directed to set up a special investigation panel to identify the detailed cause of the Hawk 108 aircraft crash last night.
Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said he conveyed this to the chiefs of both the Malaysian Armed Forces and RMAF.
“An in-depth investigation will be undertaken as soon as possible and it will take into account operational and training factors, including technical matters,” he said in a statement issued today.
He said he had asked the RMAF deputy chief to personally visit the site of the incident.
“He went there and had also visited the officer who was injured and warded at the Seberang Jaya Hospital,” he said.
He added that Mejar Mohd Fareez Omar, one of two officers involved in the crash, was in stable condition.
At about 10.07pm yesterday, the Hawk 108 aircraft crashed on the runway at the RMAF base in Butterworth here during a night flight training session, killing Captain Mohamad Affendi Bustamy and injuring Fareez.
Affendi, 31, was a pilot from Squadron No 6 of the Labuan Air Base and was originally from Bandar Tun Razak, Pahang.
Fareez, 33, is a flight chief at Squadron No 15 and is from Dengkil, Selangor.
Affendi’s body was sent to his hometown in Pahang earlier today after a post mortem and he was buried in a Muslim cemetery at Muadzam Shah in Pahang.
Hishammuddin said he has also instructed the Defence Ministry and the MAF — especially the RMAF — to immediately extend any assistance to Affendi and Fareez’s families.
He said this included arranging for the families to receive aid from the Tabung Amanah Perwira dan Pertahanan Negara (TAPPN) managed by the human resources management division of Mindef.
He said the beneficiaries of armed forces officers were eligible to receive aid from TAPPN as long as their injuries or death occurred during active duty and were not due to negligence or wrongdoing.
