Cyclic Hotline
26th Apr 2006, 13:41
7 survive logging chopper crash in Sarawak
Kuching: Seven people cheated death Tuesday when a helicopter ferrying them to a logging camp crash-landed in Long Akah in the Ulu Baram highlands, south-east of Marudi in the Miri Division.
The American pilot, Terry Windoschil, and passengers Troy Niemeyer, also an American; Malaysians Tien Sen An, Siti Anang and Sakura Serang and New Zealanders Peter Green and Shand Edwardson suffered minor injuries in the 1.27pm mishap.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Talib Jamal told reporters that the N126AC chopper, also known as a US-made UH-1H Bell, crashed some five to 10 miles from Erickson Company's Camp 65 in Long Akah when the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing upon discovering that the helicopter's tail rotor was damaged.
All seven were workers of Erickson currently conducting logging activities in Ulu Baram. They had taken off from Miri and were due to arrive at Camp 65 at 1.20pm.
Talib said the logging company informed the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in Kota Kinabalu of the incident and would send a rescue helicopter to the crash site to evacuate the survivors.
Talib said the DCA would investigate the cause of the crash.
The crash is the first involving helicopters in Sarawak this year, just two days after Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the DCA would lift the no-fly period for helicopters to the mountainous and remote areas in Sarawak during the ninth state election period.
Last September, three Russian nationals perished when a logging helicopter crashed in Nanga Gaat, Kapit Division, during heavy rain, two months after a Bell 206 Long Ranger chopper crashed into the side of a mountain in Long Singut, Kapit, killing four onboard while one survived.
On June 18 2005 a helicopter, contracted to the Malaysian Helicopter Services (MHS) for Shell Malaysia's upstream activities, was en route to an oil rig from Miri when it encountered difficulties and crashed into the sea about 170km off Bintulu.- Bernama
Kuching: Seven people cheated death Tuesday when a helicopter ferrying them to a logging camp crash-landed in Long Akah in the Ulu Baram highlands, south-east of Marudi in the Miri Division.
The American pilot, Terry Windoschil, and passengers Troy Niemeyer, also an American; Malaysians Tien Sen An, Siti Anang and Sakura Serang and New Zealanders Peter Green and Shand Edwardson suffered minor injuries in the 1.27pm mishap.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Talib Jamal told reporters that the N126AC chopper, also known as a US-made UH-1H Bell, crashed some five to 10 miles from Erickson Company's Camp 65 in Long Akah when the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing upon discovering that the helicopter's tail rotor was damaged.
All seven were workers of Erickson currently conducting logging activities in Ulu Baram. They had taken off from Miri and were due to arrive at Camp 65 at 1.20pm.
Talib said the logging company informed the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in Kota Kinabalu of the incident and would send a rescue helicopter to the crash site to evacuate the survivors.
Talib said the DCA would investigate the cause of the crash.
The crash is the first involving helicopters in Sarawak this year, just two days after Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the DCA would lift the no-fly period for helicopters to the mountainous and remote areas in Sarawak during the ninth state election period.
Last September, three Russian nationals perished when a logging helicopter crashed in Nanga Gaat, Kapit Division, during heavy rain, two months after a Bell 206 Long Ranger chopper crashed into the side of a mountain in Long Singut, Kapit, killing four onboard while one survived.
On June 18 2005 a helicopter, contracted to the Malaysian Helicopter Services (MHS) for Shell Malaysia's upstream activities, was en route to an oil rig from Miri when it encountered difficulties and crashed into the sea about 170km off Bintulu.- Bernama