Damaged left stabiliser suspected to be cause of Semenyih copter crash
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the left stabiliser may have sustained damage when it landed in a football field at Sekolah Rendah Ladang Kota Bahagia as the helicopter tilted about 13 degrees to the left when its left landing gear sunk approximately 20 inches into the soft ground.
The report also determined that the helicopter was leaking hydraulic fluid excessively, which the pilot expressed concern about as recorded in the voice recorder but did not inspect further before taking off after dropping a passenger there.
Head of investigation Datuk Yahaya Abdul Rahman said the pilot should have inspected the aircraft if he suspected that something was wrong with the aircraft, but stressed that the report is to ascertain facts of the crash and not to assign blame.
Yahaya said the left stabiliser seems to have broken off about 5 seconds before the helicopter went into rapid descent and the investigation team would need to recover the object to determine if it had suffered mechanical failure or sustained damage during landing as suspected.
I/C