Copter tragedy: RMN's 90th anniversary celebration cancelled, says Khaled Nordin

LUMUT: The Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) 90th anniversary celebrations here will be cancelled due to the mid-air collision between two Navy helicopters, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

The Defence Minister said that instead, tahlil and doa selamat prayers would be held on Friday (April 26).

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He said the Sultan of Selangor would be joining the prayers as the honorary captain of the navy.

“All celebrations planned have been cancelled,” he told reporters after visiting the accident site, and as well as visiting families of the crew at the naval base on Tuesday (April 23).

Mohamed Khaled said the 10 crew members who died in the collision were 26 to 41 years old.

He also said one navy personnel who at the time of the tragedy was swimming inside the pool sustained minor injuries after getting hit by the debris.

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“The bodies are currently being transported to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital for post-mortem.

“We will then leave it to the families to decide on the funeral plans, as not all of them are from here.

“The families from Sabah are on their way, and they will be brought to Ipoh,” he added.

Mohamad Khalid said the navy would also set up an investigation committee in view of the incident.

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He said the two helicopters involved were a Fennec M502-6, and a HOM M503-3. There were three and seven personnel inside the helicopter, respectively.

“As for the Fennec, this was the third rehearsal involving the helicopter, while it was the first for the HOM that the navy had acquired in 2021.

“A total of seven helicopters were involved in the rehearsal that was into the fourth day today,” he said.

When asked about the cause of the accident, Mohamed Khalid said it was best for the investigations to be completed.

“It will not be nice to make any assumptions,” he added.