The Fennec helicopters are mostly used for education aviators, according to Mr. Ridzwan Rahmat, primary defense analyst at the military intelligence firm Janes, while the HOM helicopters are primarily used for maritime security and special forces implantation.
“ From the video, you can see that the Fennec’s main rotor hit the AW139 ( HOM) on the latter’s portside, ” he said.
This suggests that the Fennec was going sideways when it was about to make its move. ”
The fact that the two planes were never stationed in the same location and were only training together for the first day may have contributed to the complexity of rehearsing for a multi-aircraft aerial display.
Before the occasion, he noted,” Pilot cohesion and knowledge may not have developed as effectively as they should.”
According to Mr. Ridzwan, the crash on April 23 appears to be Malaysia’s worst defense accident so far in terms of fatalities based on open-source details he has reviewed.
According to Nama, this collision is the seventh in the last nine years to involve both civil and military helicopters.
A recovery journey for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency AW139 plane crashed into the water near Angsa Island off the coast of Kuala Selangor in March of this year. Four staff members, including the captain, survived after being rescued by anglers.
In November 2020, two G2CA planes, each with two people, collided mid-air after taking off from Subang aircraft as part of aircraft training.
One helicopter’s personnel made an emergency landing and survived, but the other crashed in Taman Melawati, killing both the ship’s passengers, including a former naval commander.