Plane crash: Voice recorder data extracted, being analysed by investigation team, says Loke

PUTRAJAYA: Data from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) memory puck of the Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) that crashed tragically near Shah Alam has been extracted and sent for analysis by the Transport Ministry’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau team, says Anthony Loke.

The Transport Minister said the team's chief Brig Jen Tan Chee Kee had visited the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) laboratory in the United States on Monday (Aug 28), to extract the voice recording from CVR of the aircraft that crashed in Shah Alam earlier this month.

Loke said the team had spent the whole day at the laboratory in St Petersburg, Florida, to extract the data.

“On Monday (Aug 28, US time), the engineers from L3Harris (the manufacturer) managed to retrieve and download the voice data from the recorder.

“All the voice recording data, especially the last 30 minutes before the incident happened, was successfully downloaded,” he said in a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters here on Tuesday (Aug 29).

Loke said the data has been transmitted to the investigation team in Kuala Lumpur via secure email to be analysed and to help continue investigations into the airplane crash.

He said the team is expected to leave the US once the hurricane situation in Florida has subsided.

“The team was supposed to return home once the data was extracted but the data has been safely transmitted via secure email even though we do not have the data physically.

“All the recordings of the two pilots as well as what happened in the cockpit will be analysed and it is also material for the current investigation to identify what caused the crash,” he said.

Loke said the preliminary report on the plane crash at Bandar Elmina will be issued in the next two weeks, which is expected to be ready within 30 days of the incident.

When asked about the contents of the voice recording, Loke refused to speculate on the matter and to allow experts to analyse the data in detail first.