Malaysian Navy mid-air
 

Pretty grim! https://www.malaymail.com/amp/news/malaysia/2024/04/23/two-navy-helicopters-crash-during-fly-over-training-at-lumut-base/130309

Has echoes of the Kuwait Puma accident in 1993.

Some video here -

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...members-killed

Malaysia navy helicopters collide in mid-air, killing all 10 onboard

Two Malaysian navy helicopters have collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a parade, killing all 10 crew members on board, the navy has said.

The incident occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32am on Tuesday (0132 GMT), the navy said in a statement. “All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut naval base military hospital for identification,” according to the statement.

A video circulating on local media showed several helicopters flying in formation, when one of the aircraft’s rotors clipped another before both crashed into the ground. Local police confirmed the footage was genuine and Malaysia’s navy said it would carry out an investigation into the cause of the accident.

The helicopters involved were a Eurocopter AS555SN Fennec lightweight carrying three crew members and an AW139 maritime operation helicopter with seven people onboard, the navy said. The AW139 is produced by AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of the Italian defence contractor Leonardo. The Fennec is manufactured by European multinational defence conglomerate Airbus.

Local media reported that the AW139 crashed at a sports complex at the naval base, while the Fennec hit a nearby swimming pool. Photos showed the Fennec heavily mangled in the wreckage on the naval base stadium track with rescue personnel surrounding it as well as various debris.

Defence minister, Mohamed Khaled Nordin, said the two aircraft were rehearsing for a parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy, due to be held on Saturday. Efforts were under way to verify the identities of the crew members killed, all of whom were below the age of 40, Mohamed Khaled told reporters…..

A lot of people onboard for a rehersal?

Malaysia: 10 dead after navy helicopters collide mid-air during flyover rehearsal
 

Thought display flying specifically precluded passengers; shouldn't practices be the same ? .... or is it less rigidly enforced in some places ?

Very bad piece of news whatever.

Might have been a photo team.

[QUOTE=212man

Has echoes of the Kuwait Puma accident in 1993.[/QUOTE]

That was a bad one. I was airborne about 20 miles away when it happened and remember it well.
The British families there for the memorial ceremonies of the UK casualties of GW1 were traumatized again.
I was flying for UNIKOM at the time and a lot of the British UN contingent were there.

2 things occur to me;

Living in a predominently CAA/EASA/FAA environment, then "minimum crew" might be a view. However, as this was a Royal Malaysian Navy display, using RMN aircraft at an RMN base, then that might be a rather parochial view of what their pertininent regs might comprise, let alone querying the level of adherence to those regs.

Secondly, the most that many of us know about this accident is that it was a "rehearsal for a military parade", and part of the online video of the event comprises a rather energetic "flypast" (indeed, the standard of reporting on the BBC refers to the AW139 as a "HOM M503-3" type). Consequently, we have no idea whether the event included any form of role demonstration which may have necessitated an enhanced crew or the carriage of passengers.

Film from underneath the collision. RIP guys