KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — A Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) helicopter, which crashed in waters near Pulau Angsa today, was performing rescue drills, said MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Hamid Mohd Amin.
Hamid said the authorities were alerted to the incident, which occurred around 9.55am, via a MERS 999 call by a fisherman who was near the area where the helicopter made the emergency landing.
“A search-and-rescue operation (Carilamat) was activated to locate the AW139 helicopter (registration no. M72-01) by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and Putrajaya Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at 10.15am,” he said in a statement.
Hamid said that the helicopter was flown by Lieutenant Commander Tengku Mohd Nizam Tengku Zakaria and Lieutenant Commander Mohamad Azrol Saidi.
He also said an air crewman Warrant Officer I, John Ibno and a Rescue Swimmer Bintara, Muhamad Nurhayyat Hashim, were on board the helicopter.
Hamid said that the MMEA assets that were mobilised to the scene were GUARD Boat 25 from the Maritime Selangor, RH 16 and PSC 39 boats from the Port Klang Marine Police Force (PPM) and a Malaysian Maritime Dauphine AS365 N3 aircraft from the Subang Maritime Air Station (SUMS).
“All AW139 crew were rescued by AS365 N3 aircraft and flown to SUMS,” he added.
Prior to that, Hamid said that the fishing boats near the crash area had provided initial assistance to the crew involved.
“We have also sent 10 members from the Special Action and Rescue Team (STAR Team) and KM Bagan Datuk to the location to conduct security control in the area,” he said.
He added that CAAM ended the Carilamat operation at 11.15am.
“Maritime Malaysia will conduct further investigations to identify the cause of the incident,” he said.
