KUALA LUMPUR – The investigation into the crash of a Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) aircraft on the Guthrie Corridor Expressway near Bandar Elmina, Shah Alam, is expected to take one week if the plane’s black box is undamaged, according to a flight industry expert.
Former chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said the chances of damage to the black box are slim as it is made especially to withstand heat, fire, and water.
“When I was active in the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) investigation on the MH17 tragedy, in which the aircraft plunged 33,000 feet to the ground, we were still able to download the CVR, the content was clear,” he said in an interview on Jendela Fikir over Bernama Radio today.
Azharuddin, who is now a member of the MYAirline board of directors, explained that the black box has the CVR wrapped with various materials and could withstand accident impact as well as protect the chip in it.
The former Civil Aviation Department director-general said the CVR is very useful to investigators to conduct accurate analysis apart from using the dashcam recording handed to them.
“At the time of the incident, the weather conditions were good, and two minutes before landing, it was said that the air control centre lost contact with the pilot and they found a plume of smoke (from the location of the incident), and when called, no one answered from the plane.
“In some dashcam footage, the plane can be seen plummeting towards the ground, which has complicated the investigation, so we need to examine all the evidence found at the scene,” he said.
The crash yesterday led to 10 casualties, of whom six were passengers and two were crew on the flight. The remaining two victims were a motorcyclist and a motorist who passed the crash site.
At the time of the incident, the ill-fated plane was on a flight from Langkawi to Subang and had been cleared to land at 2.48 pm. – August 18, 2023