2 "MAYDAYs" in a day in Malacca airspace on 2/7/05

1st thing that came to my mind was "hope my buddies in melaka are fine!" And THANK GOD, they are fine! See, in the aviation industry, though safety is in the highest priority, but sometimes, things just dun go the way it should, and there's nothing to be done. And once there's such a problem, or a crash, it takes the nation's attention... and there's where all the blames and rumours start spreading, condemning and pointing fingers at 1 another. Here's the story written by my buddy's (Ian Lim) classmate from melaka, a Cadet Pilot. As for you guys from mmu, it happened very near to you all.

It was a great day for flying with calm wind and no low clouds this morning. Everyone set off for their sorties respectively. But, it is not a day for MFA where two chaps called "MAYDAY" to the tower.

CASE 1: One chap on solo, flying the Eagle E150B aircraft, was coming back from the training area from the east. He requested for PFL practice of the airfield, so ATC cleared him overhead 2000ft for PFL. But as he approached Bukit Beruang(next to Multimedia University, MMU) he noticed mild smoke from the center console. He called tower but ATC was busy with other traffic. In no time he made a distress call and requested for priority landing on RWY21 where ATC cleared him to join base leg from the non active side where he managed to land in 5 minutes. While taxi dispersal, smoke came on again but luckily the aircraft arrived at the apron and the chap shut down all switches and engine immediately.

Cause: Wiring problem.


CASE 2: 5 minutes after the incident, another chap on solo called mayday to tower! He reported his position and nature of emergency, but when tower called him back, he did not reply. The Piper 28 aircraft was found crashed into a pond next to a market. Left wing broken but pilot suffered only minor cuts. He has done a good job by avoiding the buildings nearby.

Cause: Engine failure after take off (EFATO)




p/s Too bad i could not get any picture of the crashed Piper 28. Also, the chap who flown the E150B was the author for this post. Thank God i'm safe! Maybe someone had cursed MFA for some reasons.

Then, after reading online from The Star, i manage to get this photo of the crash site. Looks like a major hit on the nose, but the empennage(back part of aircraft) didn't sustain much damage. Most probably a major service to it, or say byebye to scrap metal.


Crash Site

MALACCA: A cadet pilot made an emergency landing near some bushes behind the Batu Berendam wholesale market after his plane encountered engine problems.

Anand Raj Giri, 20, who was undergoing training with the Malaysian Flying Academy, had minor bruises on his forehead. The incident occurred about 9.20am yesterday.

Market stall operators helped pull Anand out of the plane called Piper Warrior and sent him to Malacca Hospital for treatment.

The market is 1.5km away from the airport where the plane had taken off.

WARRIOR DOWN: Passers-by having a closer look at the damaged ‘Piper Warrior’ at the perimeter of the sealed off area near the Batu Berendam wholesale market in Malacca Saturday. Police, who arrived shortly after the incident, sealed off the area for investigations.

“All I could hear was some noise and I ended up landing near the bushes,” said Anand Raj from his hospital bed.

The academy's principal, Kapt (R) M. Khashav said Anand Raj made the right decision by landing near the bushes.

“He avoided the market building, the crowd and landed on an open area without hurting anyone,” said Khashav.

Chief instructor Kapt Zulkifli Hassan, 46, said initial investigation showed that Anand Raj, who was undergoing training for a commercial pilot licence, could have encountered engine problems right after take-off as the plane was still flying at a low altitude.

Eleven firemen from the Jalan Kubu fire station were despatched to the scene.

Fishmonger Stephen Koh, 45, said he heard a loud bang and found that a plane had landed behind the market, beside a pond.

“The door of the plane was ajar and the pilot, who was bleeding on the forehead, was trying to get out.

“After I helped him out, he asked me to tell everyone not to get close to the plane, fearing an explosion.

“I helped him to clean the blood on his face before calling the police,” said Koh.

I salute Anand for his bravery and responsibility. Why? Because he landed the a/c away from buildings and civilians, AND he told the ppl to NOT GET CLOSE to the a/c, fearing that it may explode (u know how curious Malaysians are, without thinking bout their safety!). Now, that's what i call responsibility. It's not his fault for crashing the 0.5 million plane and i hope the school will investigate it. Let's just pray Anand continues his studies and not get expelled, but to gain the expensive experience that no other cadets have!