MELAKA: A Royal Malaysian Navy officer involved in a helicopter emergency landing in Klebang waters on Wednesday (Dec 31) night is currently receiving treatment in Hospital Melaka's intensive care unit (ICU).
Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said Lt Commander Afiq Muzani Abdul Aziz is in the ward following lung complications.
He is reported to be conscious and stable but still requires close monitoring by medical officers.
"Meanwhile, Senior Chief Mohammad Zullfika Mohiddi is still receiving treatment in the yellow zone of the hospital's Emergency and Trauma Department for injuries to his waist and right calf," Adly said after visiting both victims on Thursday (Jan 1).
Also present was the Deputy Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Datuk Shamsuddin Ludin.
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Adly added that two other victims, helicopter pilot Lt Commander Muhamad Kamal Abdul Rani and Lt Mohammad Faiz Razali, have been discharged from the same hospital.
Adly said the Navy will conduct operations to salvage the helicopter wreckage, which will then be transported to the Lumut Navy Base for technical evaluation.
He noted that a committee will be established to evaluate the incident and identify the exact cause to ensure the future safety of officers and personnel.
"Our priority is to look for solutions to these issues because, if possible, we do not want such incidents to happen again.
"We will take all aspects into account in our evaluation, including our personnel and technical factors, such as the capabilities of our assets," he said.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Zullfika said that during the incident, he and his colleagues were waiting for their turn to perform a hostage rescue demonstration in conjunction with the 60th anniversary celebration of the Malaysian Army special forces.
He said that the helicopter was circling not far from the performance area before the crash occurred.
"We trained for seven days for last night's performance. The weather was good, the moon was bright, and the sky was clear.
"This incident was truly unexpected because we have trained many times, and it wasn't the first time we conducted training at night," he said.
The Navy Super Lynx helicopter made an emergency landing in the waters off Pantai Klebang at 10.50pm.
The Navy confirmed in a statement that the incident occurred while the aircraft was performing a flight demonstration in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary of the Malaysian Army's Special Service Group.
The four crew members on board were rescued and taken to the hospital for examination and treatment. – Bernama
