Two Malaysian Navy helicopters crash; 10 crew members killed

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Apr 2024 09:01

Malaysian authorities have confirmed that the helicopters crashed amid a training session.

A picture showing one of the crashed helicopters in the Lumut Naval Stadium, Lumut, Malaysia. (Social media)

Ten people were killed after two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided mid-air and crashed during a training session on Tuesday, Malaysian authorities said.

"The two helicopters collided during flight training. All 10 victims on board have been confirmed dead by the medical officers," Suhaimy Mohamad Suhail, senior operations commander from the fire and rescue department stated.

BREAKING: 🇲🇾 2 military helicopters crash after mid-air collision in Malaysia, killing all 10 people on board pic.twitter.com/ckiEaqnd4R
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 23, 2024

Several helicopters were flying on Tuesday morning in a low formation over the Lumut naval stadium before two of the aircraft collided with each other mid-flight, destroying both helicopters' rotors and leading to an inevitable crash. The harrowing incident unfolded as the helicopters were conducting flights as part of a rehearsal ahead of the navy's open-day celebrations in May.

The two choppers were identified as models HOM (M503-3) and Fennec (M502-6) by the Royal Navy. The Navy said that the incident occurred at exactly 9:32 am.

"All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut Naval Base military hospital for identification," the navy said.