Friday August 22, 2008
Crashed plane found – one pilot dead, one alive
KUALA TERENGGANU: The two trainee pilots whose plane crashed after it took off from the Sultan Mahmud airport here on Wednesday have been found, one of them dead.
Mohd Ariff Ahmad Fuad, 20, from Sungai Buloh, Selangor, died at the crash site, about 100m from a police shooting range and 38km from the airport yesterday.
The surviving pilot, Mohd Farid Abdullah, 21, from Subang Jaya, was located in a jungle fringing Bukit Bidong here at 7.15am.
State deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said rescuers found Mohd Farid with a fractured left leg and facial injuries.
“The crash site was at a slope and we had to use an RMAF Nuri helicopter to transport him to Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital,” he said.
Mohd Ariff’s body was also flown to the hospital for an autopsy.
SAC Jalaluddin said Mohd Farid was still affixed to his seat that had been flung about eight metres from the wreckage, while the cockpit was so damaged that it was hard to determine who was piloting the plane when it crashed.
It is learnt that the pilots failed to report their altitude or respond to the air traffic controller minutes after taking off at 4.23pm. They were flying a Diamond Star DA40 to Langkawi International Airport.
Meanwhile, Mohd Farid has yet to be told of his partner’s death.
“It is not the right time to tell him the news, he requires a lot of rest, let him recuperate first,” said his mother Safiah Omar, 48.
Mohd Ariff’s father, Ahmad Fuad Saima, 49, said he accepted his son’s death.
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