PETALING JAYA: The BO-105 helicopter that crashed near the Long Lellang STOLport in Sarawak was a light, twin-engine aircraft developed in Germany commonly used for medical evacuation, air rescue, police operations, military missions and civilian transport.
Developed by Bölkow, the first BO-105 model made its first flight in 1967 and then certified by the German Civil Aviation Authority in October 1970, according to online aviation resource platform GlobalAir.com.
It became the first ever light twin-engine helicopter and civil helicopter certified to perform aerobatics.
Designed as a multi-purpose helicopter, the BO-105 stands about three metres tall, and 11.86 metres with a rotor diameter of about 9.86 metres that provides the aircraft a max takeoff weight of about 5,512lb or 2,500kg.
On average, a standard BO-105 can carry up to one pilot and four passengers, with a max flying speed of about 242km/h, max flying range of 444km, and a maximum operating altitude of 5km.
It is powered by two Rolls Royce 250-C20B engines at 420hp that gives the helicopter a rate of climb of 1460 ft/min or 26km/h.
About 1,400 BO-105s were built up until production formally ended in 2001.
It is one of Germany's most successful helicopter designs with an estimated 8 million official flight hours recorded of people piloting the helicopter and its variants.
The aircraft currently remains in service in various roles across the world.
