Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation has launched an investigation into the 4 April crash of an Airbus Helicopters AS365-N3 that killed all six aboard, including two high level government officials.
In a post on his Facebook page, prime minister Najib Razak said he is “grief-struck” after the crash, which claimed the lives of his chief of staff, Azlin Alias, and member-of-parliament Jamaluddin Jarjis.
State media agency Bernama reports that the crash occurred at 16:50, when the helicopter went down in a rubber plantation to the southeast of Kuala Lumpur.
Media reports indicate that the aircraft involved in the incident bore registration 9M-IGB. Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows that that the aircraft was delivered to its first owner, Mexican firm Servicios Protexa Construcciones (SPC), in June 1990.
It was obtained by another Mexican firm, Aero Servicios Especializados SA, in 1993, and was eventually obtained by Malaysia’s Orion Corridor in 2012. Orion, which is partially owned by Malaysian construction firm IGB Corporation, leased the aircraft to Solaire Helicopter in 2012.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
