KUALA LUMPUR: The collision between the two Royal Malaysian Navy helicopters in Lumut boiled down to two factors, the main one being that the Eurocopter Fennec was not at the designated altitude and heading, and entered the flight path of the Agusta Westland AW139 Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM).
The secondary factor was the attention of the AW139 crew, which was focused on changing course, limiting their ability to avoid the collision.
Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Ayob, who announced the findings, said there is insufficient proof to link the incident to human error, as the black box and accurate data are not available.
"The findings indicate that the aircraft was at an incorrect altitude."Human error cannot be confirmed because the Fennec aircraft did not have a black box," he said during a press conference on the Final Report of the Lumut Air Crash today.
Abdul Rahman said the autopsy report confirmed that there were no issues of hypoglycemia or elements of fatigue among the crew, and no use of prohibited substances.
He said no mental illness was recorded or identified.
"All the crew members involved were medically certified as fit to fly. The deaths of all 10 victims were due to multiple injuries from the aviation crash."
Based on the Black Box Analysis Report, the AW139 aircraft was confirmed to have no technical problems.
Meanwhile, the Fennec aircraft, which did not have a black box, was determined to have no technical problems based on visual and audio analysis as well as documentation.
"Maintenance work on both aircraft was confirmed to have been carried out according to the procedures and routines set by the OEM.
"Samples of oil, lubricant, and fuel were examined and confirmed to be normal by the Institute of Defense Science and Technology Research (STRIDE)."
He said the weather conditions on the day of the incident were good and suitable for flying.
The Black Box Analysis Report of the AW139 aircraft was used to assist the investigation while for the Fennec aircraft, the flight profile was proven through flight simulation using an actual aircraft.
Abdul Rahman added that cooperation, expertise, and views from the OEMs, namely Leonardo Helicopter and Airbus Helicopter, were referred to for the investigation.
"Airbus Helicopter confirmed that there was no equipment with Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) on the Fennec aircraft that could assist the investigation."
On Apr 23, two helicopters, an AugustaWestland AW139 HOM and a Eurocopter Fennec, collided during a mid-air manouevre during a flypast training for the Navy's 90th anniversary celebrations.
There were no survivors in the tragedy.