Semenyih copter crash: Pilot was negligent

PETALING JAYA: Pilot negligence was among the factors responsible for the Semenyih helicopter crash which claimed the lives of Rompin MP Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis and five others on April 4 last year.

The final report by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau concluded that Capt Clifford William Fournier had failed to inspect an excessive oil leak and damage to parts of the Eurocopter Dauphin after landing on a football field in Muadzam Shah, Pahang.

Jamaluddin were among the six killed in the accident.

There was also passenger intervention on several occasions for the pilot to rush home, which could have created pressure on him, the report said.

The helicopter crashed into a rubber plantation near Kampung Sungai Pening Pening, in Selangor.

Apart from Jamaluddin and Fournier, also on board were the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary Datuk Seri Azlin Alias, operations assistant Aidana Baizieva, bodyguard Razakan Seran and businessman Datuk Tan Huat Seang.

Capt Clifford William Fournier

Those on board were returning to Subang from Pekan after the wedding reception of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s daughter Nooryana Najwa and Daniyar Kessikbayev.

Inspections of the cockpit voice and flight data, as well as the last landing site before the accident, revealed that the helicopter’s left main landing gear had sunk 50.8cm into loose soil. This caused the aircraft to tilt more than 13 degrees to the left.

“There was also evidence of excessive fluid leak in the sink hole made by the left landing gear as well as on the grass about 10m forward of the landing point.”

The report also published transcripts of the conversations between Fournier and the passengers recorded by the cockpit voice recorder.