PETALING JAYA: The Royal Malaysian Air Force officers piloting the F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet that crashed late Thursday (Aug 21) night are the 7,796th and 7,797th to have been saved by its ejection seats, says the manufacturer.
In a post on its social media, Martin-Baker Aircraft Company added that the seats used by the crew of the Hornet that crashed at at Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport (Kuantan Air Base) were its US14A (NACES) Ejection Seat.
Prior to this, it said in an earlier post that the 7795th life saved by a Martin-Baker ejection seat was a US Navy pilot who ejected when their Hornet crashed off the coast of Virginia, USA on Wednesday (Aug 20).
In the case of the crash at Kuantan Air Base, the two officers involved are 34-year-old Mejar Mohamad Azhar Alang Kamarudin and 28-year-old Kapten Mohamad Izzuddin Mohamad Salleh.
Mej Mohamad Azhar sustained back injuries and suffered minor burns (1%) to his left heel while co-pilot Kapt Mohammad Izzuddin escaped with only bruises to several parts of his body.
Meanwhile, Air Force chief Jeneral Datuk Seri Muhamad Norazlan Aris said on Friday (Aug 22) that the Air Force has formed an official board of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident.
"The investigation team begins work today and will provide a preliminary report as soon as possible. Typically, such reports will be completed within 14 days," he said.
From the viral video footage of the alleged causes of the crash, Muhamad Norazlan stated that Air Force investigators will examine it from various angles, including potential bird strikes, foreign object debris (FOD), and possible engine failure.
"The aircraft is equipped with a data collector system similar to a black box. We will analyse the data to determine what led to the crash.
"Until the cause is determined, all F/A-18D Hornet flights have been temporarily suspended," he added.
The fighter involved was from No.18 Squadron, normally based at Butterworth Air Base, but had been temporarily deployed to Kuantan while Butterworth's runway was undergoing an upgrade.
The Air Force F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet was reported to have crashed on the runway of the air base at 9.05pm Thursday.
