Local media reports Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Noriah Kasnon; Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament Mohammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad, who is also the Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman; and the ministry secretary-general Dr Sundaran Annamalai, to be among the six on board the AS350 Eurocopter Ecureuil.
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He confirmed that the helicopter in question, model AS350/RPC6828, departed from Betong at 4.12pm and vanished from radar at 4.32pm – the halfway point to Kuching – around the Triso area.
He said the police marine team and helicopters would be mobilised at 6am today to assist in the search for the missing helicopter.
Najib said search and rescue efforts will go on until they find the main body of the helicopter.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived at the Department of Civil Aviation’s (DCA) state headquarters in Kuching Airport this morning for a briefing on the missing helicopter carrying a deputy minister and five others.
“There were four helicopters flying behind the missing helicopter. I have instructed the RMAF and the Army to join in the search and rescue operations to locate the helicopter”, he said on Facebook.
The air traffic control (ATC) here made no less than three attempts to contact the missing helicopter yesterday evening to no avail.
“Deeply concerned about reports of helicopter missing between Betong and Kuching”.
“We have launched our search and rescue mission in Sri Aman, Simunjan and Betong”, he said at a press conference here on Thursday.
The goal of their travel was not immediately clear, but much of the country’s political attention has been focused for weeks on election campaigning in Sarawak, which holds state polls on Saturday.
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“This, we believe may make the operations more challenging as the river is very wide”, he said, adding that every available asset will be deployed for the mission.
