KUALA LUMPUR: The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) audio of the doomed Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) was successfully extracted in the United States yesterday, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
Loke said the 30-minute voice recording of the aircraft in the Aug 17 crash in Bandar Elmina, Shah Alam, was very clear and in good condition.
He said the ministry's Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) head Brigadier-General Tan Chee Kee and the CVR's original equipment manufacturer, L3Harris, had spent a whole day yesterday retrieving the audio.
"The data was successfully downloaded and has been transmitted back (to Malaysia) via safe e-mail system. The entire voice recording is now being processed, analysed and investigated in our lab.
"We want to get the actual transcription of the data. We will analyse to our best the voice recordings of the two pilots to ascertain what had happened in the cockpit.
"It will then be made an investigation subject to identify the cause of the crash," said Loke at the ministry headquarters today.
Loke said Tan had briefed him on the contents of the voice recording, but it was not for him to make any conclusions yet.
"I do not want to announce or speculate anything. Let our experts conduct detailed analysis and we will put it in the preliminary report.
"I do not want to conclude anything until the AAIB does its report," he added.
He said a preliminary report on the crash will be published on the ministry's website in two weeks.
It will also be handed over to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The preliminary report, he added, would pave the way for a detailed report which may include safety recommendations to avert similar incidences.
The AAIB team, he said, was supposed to return to Malaysia yesterday but was unable due to the Category 3 hurricane in Florida.
They are expected to arrive home at the end of this week.
On Aug 17, 10 people were killed in the deadly private jet crash on the Guthrie Highway near Bandar Elmina, just minutes from landing at the nearby Subang's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport from Langkawi.
Initial investigations showed that the aircraft with eight people onboard veered to the right from its flight path before the crash.
The victims were six passengers, including Pahang's Pelangai state assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun, two pilots and two on the ground motorists who were struck by the aircraft.
CAAM chief executive officer Datuk Captain Norazman Mahmud had said the aircraft departed from Langkawi International Airport at 2.08pm bound for Subang's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport.
The first contact made by the aircraft with Subang Air Traffic Control Tower was at 2.47pm and landing clearance was given at 2.48pm, he said.
At 2.51pm, the Subang Air Traffic Control Tower observed smoke plummeting from the crash site but no mayday call was made by the aircraft, he added.
The victims, as listed in the flight manifest were Johari, 53; Kharil Azwan Jamaludin, 43; Shaharul Amir Omar, 49; Mohamad Naim Fawwaz Mohamed Muaidi, 35; Muhammad Taufiq Mohd Zaki, 37; and Idris Abdol Talib @ Ramali, 41.
The aircraft, confirmed to be airworthy, was piloted by Shahrul Kamal Roslan, 41, and assisted by Heikal Aras Abdul Azim, 45, who were both experienced and had valid licences.
Rescue workers recovered one intact body and human remains were removed from the scene and brought to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang for post mortem.
The victims' next-of-kin were also asked to give their DNA samples at the Klang Selatan district police headquarters for identification purposes. On Aug 18, the AAIB began analysing the CVR.
Loke said investigators managed to open the CVR and removed the memory puck component that contained the voice recording data from the plane.
However, they were unable to recover the data as it was badly damaged.
Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau offered their help to obtain the data.
On Aug 21, Loke said the CVR would be sent to Florida after Singaporean investigators had difficulties in data extraction from the memory puck.
On Aug 24, Tan and his team of investigators left for Florida for the data retrieval process.