SEMENYIH, April 7 — Debris from the helicopter that crashed here on Saturday has been completely removed and brought to the police air unit base in Sungai Besi, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai today.
However, he said search operations at the crash site were still going on until the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is satisfied that there was no more debris that were needed to investigate the cause of the crash.
Liow said the crash site would be closely guarded by police and the Armed Forces until tomorrow.
“It is to enable the investigation team comb the area as detailed as possible tomorrow so that nothing is left out. The area measuring 200 metres by 200 metres will be guarded to ensure it is not contaminated by any parties,” he told reporters at the crash site today.
Also present were Selangor police chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
Liow also assured a transparent and detailed investigation into the cause of the accident.
In thanking all the search and rescue parties, Liow said the teams had a difficult time trying to bring out the engines and large debris of the helicopter from the crash site.
“We had difficulties bringing out the engines, gearbox and large wreckage pieces from the hill slope (where the helicopter went down). Besides being a steep and hilly area, there are also no roads wide enough for a lorry or heavy vehicle to enter.
“So we had to use human strength to carry the components to the landing spot of a police helicopter about 200 metres from the hill slope,” he said.
Smaller debris were collected and packed before being transported by three lorries. All lorries left the site at 5pm today for the police air unit base in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur.
Asked on the status of the black box, Liow said it could only be read using certain machines as it is a combination of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder unlike an aeroplane which has two separate components.
“The black box can only be deciphered at the AAIB (Air Accidents Investigation Board) in the United Kingdom (UK). It is not the same as the black box of AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 (which crashed in the Java Sea on December 28) which could be read and analysed in Indonesia.
“We are seeking the assistance of UK experts as they have the latest sophisticated equipment to obtain accurate analysis,” he said.
Liow said the AAIB was expected to take 10 days, three days to extract the data and seven days to analyse.
“We hope to get an initial report in a month,” he said.
Liow, however, did not say when the black box would be sent to the UK. — Bernama
