Editor’s note: The headline and portion of this story were updated after new developments were announced by the police.
The pilot of a helicopter that vanished near Bidor after losing touch with the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Tower (KLATCC) yesterday has been discovered dead at the crash site, said Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.
According to him, members of the search and rescue team found the body in the cockpit of the chopper this morning.
The pilot has been identified as Hong Kong citizen Tsz Kin Richard Chan, 58. Police said his family has been informed of the incident.
“A Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopter found the location of the crash at about 9:30 am in the Chikus Forest Reserve area. Five minutes later, the RMAF crew went down to the location and found the victim in the cockpit.
“The body was brought out from the crash site at 10:12 am and brought to SMK Anderson in an ambulance and then sent to Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, Ipoh, for post-mortem,” he told reporters at the SAR operations room at the Bidor police station, about 80 kilometres from Ipoh today.
This is contrary to what Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong stated earlier, where he said the pilot was found alive and would receive medical attention at the nearest hospital.
Mohd Yusri said the wreckage of the Eurocopter aircraft, which is owned by a private company, had been handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) for further action.
Yesterday, Wee claimed a privately owned Eurocopter helicopter lost touch with KLATCC at 12:16 pm before the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) declared the aircraft missing.
The aircraft’s last known location was a forest area near Bidor.
It took off from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at 11:37 am yesterday and was supposed to have landed at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport at 12:37 pm.
The Transport Minister has yet to make any statement on the update.
