ISKANDAR PUTERI: Police are focusing efforts on locating the black box of the helicopter that crashed near Sungai Pulai, Gelang Patah, on Thursday (July 10) morning to determine the cause of the incident, says Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail.
The Inspector-General of Police said the search is being carried out in collaboration with several relevant agencies, including the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and other agencies with technical investigation expertise.
In addition to locating the black box, efforts are also underway to recover the wreckage of the helicopter, which is believed to have sunk to the riverbed.
"A coordinated effort is being carried out with the cooperation of various agencies, involving highly specialised technical expertise," he said after inspecting the crash site near the MMEA Jetty in Gelang Patah Thursday.
Also present was Johor police chief Datuk M. Kumar.
According to Mohd Khalid, the process of recovering the helicopter wreckage is expected to take some time as it requires specialised expertise and equipment for underwater operations.
"So far, we cannot confirm when the wreckage will be retrieved, as it will require specific expertise, possibly even from third-party sources. I've been informed that the river is about 7m deep, which complicates matters," he said.
All five police personnel on board survived the crash, but two of them were seriously injured.
The AS355N helicopter crashed while performing a flypast as part of a demonstration during the Multilateral Nuclear Security Detection Exercise (Mitsatom 2025), which involved Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. - Bernama
