Nuri Copter With Six On Board Goes Missing On Flight To Kuantan

[Naim 6]

The helicopter, which took off from the RMAF base in Sungai Besi, lost radio contact with the base's control tower at 9.35am, 10 minutes after take-off, ...

 

Cannot be too far from Gombak, yet 12 hours later, no sign of it yet.

 

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July 13, 2007 20:19 PM

 

Nuri Copter With Six On Board Goes Missing On Flight To Kuantan

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- A Royal Malaysia Air Force Nuri helicopter with six people on board went missing while on a flight to Kuantan today.

 

The helicopter, which took off from the RMAF base in Sungai Besi, lost radio contact with the base's control tower at 9.35am, 10 minutes after take-off, RMAF public relations officer Mejar Zulkifli Abdul Latif said in a statement.

 

He said the RMAF had set up a search and rescue (SAR) team to locate the helicopter and the passengers.

 

RMAF aircraft, Royal Malaysian Navy personnel and firemen from the Fire and Rescue Department have been roped in the SAR operations, he said.

 

Zulkifli said soldiers from the Royal Malay Regiment and the RMAF elite force have been deployed for a ground search.

 

As of 6.30pm, the helicopter has not been found, he said, adding that the next-of-kin of the crew and passengers have been informed of the incident.

 

In KUANTAN, Pahang police chief Datuk Ayob Mohamad said they received a call from the air force at about 2.30pm seeking help to locate the missing chopper.

 

Ayob said he could not confirm as yet whether the helicopter went missing when flying over Bentong.

 

"We also cannot confirm whether the helicopter had crashed. We only received information that a helicopter has gone missing," he told reporters.

 

-- BERNAMA

[Rozhan 0]

Whenever a Nuri crashes, I worry for my former classmate who pilots one of those, in his words, 'flying coffins'!

 

My relative was a victim of one Nuri crash in early 1990s at Banding, Perak. He was with TLDM but was training with TUDM for the new Lynx that was bought by TLDM (now in service). The newspapers LIED by reporting that no ammo was on board, but the fact relayed by the airforce to his parents was that it was filled with bullets and other ammo to supply to army border patrols. Hence the heli exploded on impact with the ground.

 

I think it is about time TUDM renew its Nuri fleet to modern ones. If the gov can spend many billions of ringgit on state-of-the-art fighter jets, what is a few hundred million ringgit for the multi-purpose missions that such helicopters can provide to the military, and people at large in emergency situations e.g. flood relief, medivac etc. Malaysia is a rich and advanced country, isn't it?

Edited July 13, 2007 by Rozhan

[Norman 1]

Whenever a Nuri crashes, I worry for my former classmate who pilots one of those, in his words, 'flying coffins'!

 

My relative was a victim of one Nuri crash in early 1990s at Banding, Perak. He was with TLDM but was training with TUDM for the new Lynx that was bought by TLDM (now in service). The newspapers LIED by reporting that no ammo was on board, but the fact relayed by the airforce to his parents was that it was filled with bullets and other ammo to supply to army border patrols. Hence the heli exploded on impact with the ground.

 

I think it is about time TUDM renew its Nuri fleet to modern ones. If the gov can spend many billions of ringgit on state-of-the-art fighter jets, what is a few hundred million ringgit for the multi-purpose missions that such helicopters can provide to the military, and people at large in emergency situations e.g. flood relief, medivac etc. Malaysia is a rich country, isn't it not?

 

Not just fighters.... VIP transports as well...

[Sandeep G 1]

a case of too many dollars, no "sense" perhaps...

 

I hope the crew are found safe and well.. thoughts and prayers with the families of the lost ones.

[Naim 6]

July 13, 2007 22:52 PM

 

Copter Was Flying Low, Appeared To Have Developed Engine Trouble

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- A Nuri helicopter that went missing on a flight to Kuantan today was apparently seen flying low in thick fog around Genting Highlands as though it had developed engine trouble.

 

An eye-witness said he was outside the residence of his employer in Gohtong Jaya when he heard a strange sound coming from the helicopter.

 

"I knew it was a Nuri as I used to fly in Nuri helicopters. From the strange sound I heard from the helicopter, it appeared to have developed engine trouble," said the eye-witness, a bodyguard.

 

The eye-witness, who declined to be named, said he was puzzled why the helicopter was flying over Genting Highlands when it was heading for Kuantan because it should have been flying over the Karak Highway.

 

It looked like the helicopter was coming from the direction of Batang Kali, he said.

 

It appeared that the helicopter was flying low as though the pilot was looking for a spot to land, he said.

 

"Later, the helicopter headed towards the direction of the Awana Hotel and disappeared, at about 9.30am," he added.

 

The chopper, with six people on board, lost contact with the RMAF control tower at the Sungai Besi air base at 9.35am, 10 minutes after take-off.

 

A land search and rescue operation is in progress after the aerial search was called off at 8.30pm due to darkness.

 

-- BERNAMA

 

===

 

July 13, 2007 21:53 PM

 

Missing Nuri Copter: Last Phone Contact At 10am

 

BENTONG, July 13 (Bernama) -- One of the passengers on board the missing Nuri helicopter made a contact on a handphone to the RMAF control tower at about 10am before the call was cut-off.

 

Bentong Deputy OCPD DSP Mohd Fakri Che Sulaiman said the call was received by the RMAF Aviation Operations Centre in Sungai Besi.

 

"When we checked with Maxis Telecommunications, we were told the call was made within a five kilometre radius of a transmission tower at Km36.5 of the Karak Highway," he told reporters at Genting Sempah, near Genting Highlands, here tonight.

 

He urged villagers with any information of a Nuri helicopter hovering in the area to contact the police.

 

He said a 130-member search and rescue team comprising soldiers was scouring the area after the aerial search was called off at 8.30pm.

 

A search and rescue operation was launched immediately after the chopper lost contact with the control tower at the Sungai Besi air base at about 9.35am.

 

The police, Royal Malaysian Navy and Fire and Rescue Department personnel have been mobilised in the search.

 

The helicopter, carrying six people, including three crew, lost contact about 10 minutes after taking off from the Sungai Besi air base.

 

RMAF public relations officer Mejar Zulkifli Abdul Latif said the transport helicopter was on a flight to Kuantan when it disappeared from the radar screen.

 

He said the families of the crew and the passengers had been informed of the incident.

 

-- BERNAMA

[Walter Sim 1]

Aiyaaa, we're turning into like Indonesia already, except it happens to our govt planes and copters..

[Radzi 2]

I can just hope that they managed to land safely somewhere.....

[Rozhan 0]

The new Lynx helicopters used by TLDM was supposed to be equipped with FLIR thermal imaging equipment. If available maybe they could be used in the search. BTW the suspected crash site is not that remote an area, with Genting, Janda Baik and surrounding areas being populated. Since the crash occured quite early yesterday, wonder what's taking them so long to find the site.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

There seems to be hope here... Really hope the news will report of a safe landing tomorrow...

[Steve 0]

I have been flying Sikorsky S-61 helicopters since 1989 and I always felt very safe in them. They are very well designed and their safety record is very good. I have just departed Brunei where they have been operating S-61Ns for 40 years without any accidents. Like any helicopter, safety is mainly down to how well they are maintained. If the Nuri's have any general safety issues I can assure you it is not because of the design, it WILL be due to maintenance.

 

Having said all that, the sighting of the helicopter flying low in bad weather in an area where they shouldn't have been make me fear for the worst. Perhaps this pilot wasn't trained/cleared to fly on instruments (i.e. cloud) and was desperately trying to stay visual with the surface?

 

Let us all hope they are OK.

[Ewan Shamsudin 0]

Whenever a Nuri crashes, I worry for my former classmate who pilots one of those, in his words, 'flying coffins'!

It seems like constantly have Nuri crashes every year, kan? It's like the only way to cease its operation is to have it crash somewhere. There is a rather distasteful joke which was related to me: "Malaysian soldiers nowadays no longer die of gunshot wounds by the communists but of Nuri crashes. Double the chance if you're in the Air Force!".

 

Therefore I wonder how many more Nuri's left in the force.

 

I hope they are coming out of the jungle safe and sound.

 

 

[Kader 0]

Bro, they do have lessons on how to crash safely, however in a chopper, if the engine 'kaput' there might be chances of losing the ctrls.. but,

maybe if they managed to land safely on the top canopy of the jungle, the sNr team will also take some time to reach the remote part of the jungle..

 

Todays weather should be okay, looking from the radar image, so if the SNR team were planning to do some aerial search they mite find something..

 

Otherwise, those survivors have to get out from the jungle by themselves.. I pray 4 their safety.. InsyaAllah..

[Naim 6]

My good friend, an MH 777 captain, says he'll never ever take a ride in a chopper. Dangerous machine by design, he claims.

 

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[Naim 6]

July 14, 2007 12:54 PM

 

Missing Nuri Copter Still Not Located, Search Intensified

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- A Nuri helicopter, with six air force crew on board, that went missing while flying from the Sungai Besi base here to the Gambang base in Pahang yesterday, is not located as of 11am.

 

The search and rescue operation was intensified at first light this morning, with aerial and ground scouring around Genting Sempah, near Genting Highlands, where the helicopter last appeared on the radar.

 

Three Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopters, police, Fire and rescue Department personnel and 100 soldiers from the Bentong-based Royal Malay Regiment camp have been deployed in the search.

 

The transport helicopter, carrying air force personnel to replace their colleagues at the base in Gambang, near Kuantan, lost contact with the air base control tower at 9.35am, 10 minutes after it took off from the Sungai Besi RMAF base.

 

The Nuri was scheduled to reach its destination at 10.25am but failed to appear.

 

-- BERNAMA

[Mohd Nizam 0]

Almost one full day already .. I wonder what's taking 'em so long ..

 

Let's pray for their safety ..

[Mushrif A 3]

NAjib adds his 2 sens...It's about time the "Plan" is put into action...

 

July 14, 2007 15:58 PM

 

Govt Plans To Replace Nuri Helicopters - Najib

 

 

MUADZAM SHAH, July 14 (Bernama) -- The Government plans to replace Nuri helicopters from the fleet of aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

 

Najib, who is also Defence Minister, however, said the phasing out was not possible in the near future.

 

"Nuri helicopters are still air-worthy. Nevertheless, there are plans to replace them, but not immediately as they can still be used," he told reporters after attending a "leader-with-the-people" gathering.

 

Najib was responding to reports that a Nuri helicopter, with six air force crew on board, was missing while flying from the Sungai Besi base here to the Gambang base in Pahang yesterday.

 

The transport helicopter, carrying air force personnel to replace their colleagues at the base in Gambang, near Kuantan, lost contact with the air base control tower at 9.35am, 10 minutes after it took off from the Sungai Besi RMAF base.

 

The Nuri was scheduled to reach its destination at 10.25am but failed to appear.

 

Asked whether the services of Nuri helicopters would be suspended following the incident, Najib said it was up to the RMAF to decide.

 

On the search and rescue operations to locate the helicopter, he said the ground and aerial search have been intensified.

 

"As of noon, the search is still going on. The helicopter has not been found as the area is covered with thick forest," he added.

 

The search was intensified at first light this morning, with three RMAF aircraft scouring the area around Genting Sempah, near Genting Highlands, where the helicopter last appeared on the radar.

 

The police, Fire and Rescue Department personnel and 100 soldiers from the Bentong-based Royal Malay Regiment Camp have been deployed for the ground search.

 

-- BERNAMA

 

 

[Edwin Yii 0]

time for blackhawks! ")

[FK Wong 0]

may god be with them.

Edited July 14, 2007 by FK Wong

[FK Wong 0]

July 14, 2007 17:58 PM

 

Dense Forests, Steep Inclines, Thick Mist Hamper Copter Search

 

GENTING HIGHLANDS, July 14 (Bernama) -- An estimated 400 people mobilised to search for a missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopter are facing the challenge of dense forests, steep inclines and thick mist in a 60 sq km hilly terrain of Genting Highlands where the aircraft with six crew is believed to have disappeared yesterday.

 

The search-and-rescue team, comprising the police, soldiers, civil defence personnel, villagers and Orang Asli, are scouring the heavily forested area on the ground, and from the air with the aid of two RMAF Nuri helicopters - the type of aircraft that went missing - as well as one helicopter from the police and another from the Fire and Rescue Department.

 

The team is to be strengthened this evening with personnel from the crack VAT 69 commando unit and the unique Senoi Praaq which boasts Orang Asli trackers who have the agility to move swiftly in the jungle, however dense it may be.

 

This information was disclosed by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz at the operations centre set up at the Aminuddin Baki Institute here.

 

Hopes of quickly finding the missing helicopter, which lost contact with the control tower at the RMAF base in Sungai Besi at 9.35 am, 10 minutes after taking off yesterday, hinge on a faint signal emanating from a mobile telephone of one of the six people on board.

 

Mohd Najib, who is an uncle of the pilot of the missing aircraft, Capt Norazlan Termuzi, said the telephone signal was still detectable by the Maxis telecommunications tower at Km 36.5 of the Karak highway, between Gombak and Genting Highlands.

 

He said the search-and-rescue team had secured the assistance of the telecommunications company but attempts to pinpoint the exact location from where the signal was coming have yet been successful.

 

The exact location could be easily established if the telephone was within a five kilometre radius of the transmitting tower, he added.

 

"The focus of our search is now confined to an area of 55 sq km to 60 sq km in the hilly terrain of Genting Highlands, including Genting Bidai-Awana, Genting Sempah and Gohtong," Mohd Najib told reporters at the Bukit Tinggi police station.

 

"For the moment, we can only pray that all the six crew members of the helicopter are safe," he said.

 

Besides Capt Norazlan, the other crew members were co-pilot Capt Nor Intan Asykeen Mohd Arof, air quartermaster Sergeant Khusnizam Ariffin, Sergeant Mohd Azmie Md Yassin, senior airman Saifulizam Alias and airman Muhammad Ridzuan Ahmad.

 

The transport helicopter was carrying air force personnel to relieve their colleagues at the base in Gambang near Kuantan when it went missing.

 

The Nuri was scheduled to reach its destination at 10.25 am.

[Md. Rudy 0]

time for blackhawks! ")

 

 

maybe NH90.....

 

btw, its about time govt buy new helicopters. Our airforce doesn't even have all weather Search & Rescue helicopter. That's why till now couldn't find the crash site since those area always foggy with low level cloud.

Edited July 14, 2007 by Md. Rudy

[T Azahan 1]

i saw the night news just now. 30 delivered since 1969 to rmaf. 14 had crashed. :blink:

 

and this one that still missing is not equipped with electronic locator transmitter as confirmed by air force chief. what laaaa..... <_>

[Naim 6]

2nd day ends and no signs. Not even from the unlucky crew. I think they are incapacitated.

 

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July 14, 2007 21:46 PM

 

No Sign Of Copter As Aerial Search On Second Day Ends

 

GENTING HIGHLANDS, July 14 (Bernama) -- The second day's aerial search for a missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopter was called off at 7 pm today as darkness set in over a 60 sq km area of Genting Highlands where the aircraft is believed to have disappeared yesterday during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan.

 

However, the ground search continues with the involvement of the elite police VAT 69 commando unit, special air unit Paskau of the RMAF, the army's special operations force, civil defence personnel and the Senoi Praaq comprising agile Orang Asli jungle trackers.

 

Local villagers and Orang Asli are also helping with the search and rescue to locate the Nuri or Sikorsky S-61 helicopter and the six crew members on board.

 

Thirteen aircraft, including from the RMAF, Fire and Rescue Department and the police, were being used in the search for which about 300 personnel have been mobilised.

 

The helicopter lost contact with the control tower at the RMAF base in Sungai Besi at 9.35 am, 10 minutes after taking off for the Kuantan base.

 

Those on board have been identified as pilot Capt Nor Azlan Termuzi, co-pilot Capt Nor Intan Asykeen Mohd Arof, air quartermaster Sgt Khusnizam Ariffin, Sgt Mohd Azmie Md Yassin, senior airman Saifulizam Alias and airman Muhammad Ridzuan Ahmad.

 

The aerial search today was confined to a 60 sq km area stretching from the Aminuddin Baki Institute to Gohtong Jaya, Awana, Seleseh Jerom and Genting Sempah.

 

It is expected to be widened beyond Genting Highlands to Gunung Mengkuang tomorrow when the aerial search resumes at first light.

 

-- BERNAMA

[shaqir 0]

i think this is the correct time to change all the rmaf chopper.sudah lapuk la bang...30 years of age and going to be a static display at rmaf musium.

[Khaled 2]

i think this is the correct time to change all the rmaf chopper.sudah lapuk la bang...30 years of age and going to be a static display at rmaf musium.

 

The leader get to fly in brand new biz jet but let the people below fly in the old chopper.

 

and no ELT?totally unacceptable. even single engine piper is equipped with 1.

 

Hopefully they all survived the impact and find their way out.

[Denny Yen 0]

RMAF Nuri's avionics date back to 1960s/1970s technology, they're not equipped with terrain avoidance/terrain following multi-mode radar or FLIR or may even lack GPS. Therefore, the pilots had to rely on visual guidance when flying in high terrain regions.

 

So far, I know of only one Nuri crash with a survivor....Ghazali Shafie (an ex-Foreign Minister) in the 1980s somewhere in Pahang area...a massive search/rescue operation was launched because the gov't fear he may be captured by communist guerrillas prior to the peace agreement.

 

It seems that RMAF got their priorities wrong...preferring to spend so much on expensive fighter jets (a poor attempt of showing-off against neighbours) whilst neglecting the workhorses that did the most work in the force (they can't deny their heavy reliance on Nuri more than Mig-29s/F-18Ds).

 

Despite being a 30 year-old aircraft, air forces such as UK (in Lynx, Tornado) and US (first generation of UH-60s) routinely use life-extension programs to upgrade their aircraft, making them safer to continue flying. These programs can be done, and can save lives. With so many crashes and deaths, isn't it time that parliament grill and question them...someone has to be accountable for this.