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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| News from Malaysia (our trainee pilot died) |
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| NinthMuharram |
| 08/13/03 at 23:50:04 |
| The news is a bit descriptive. [img]http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/HM/Wednesday/Frontpage/20030813083827/Images/aug13elna.jpg [/img] ONE witnessed the actual crash of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's Pilatus PC-7 which killed its female trainee pilot yesterday, while another saw the horrific aftermath, and these two villagers of Batu 25 of the Changlun-Sintok Highway in Sintok, Kedah are still trembling from the experience. The aircraft was piloted by Leftenan Mai Elny Sefrina Jalaluddin, 23, from Kampung Ulu Beting, Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan, who was attached to the RMAF's flying academy in Kepala Batas, Alor Star. It crashed deep inside a rubber estate about two kilometres away from the Changlun-Sintok highway at 12.20pm. Halim Din, 63, who was tapping in the rubber estate at the time, actually saw the aircraft nose-dive into the ground about 50 metres from where he was standing while Hasnah Abdullah, 57, was the first person to reach the site. Both said they were scared by what they saw and the memory of it is etched in their minds forever. Halim, who owns the rubber estate, was not ashamed to admit he was too scared to go near the site. He said he first noticed the plane flying at a low altitude towards his estate. "At first I didn't hear the engine until it neared me and then it nose-dived into the ground," said Halim. "I thought it was going to crash on me and I froze. I remember reciting a few Quranic verses and when the plane finally hit the ground, the sound it made was so loud, I was scared. "I wanted to go near but I was too afraid to look and see some horrifying things, so I decided to run and get help rather than get near it." As for Hasnah, who was in her house located 200 metres away from the crash scene at the time, she approached the site out of concern for the victims who might have survived the crash. "I heard a loud drone and it sounded so near my house. Then I heard a loud crash coming from inside the rubber estate," she said when met at the site. "But as I got near, I nearly fainted when I saw several pieces of human flesh including an arm and pieces of human hair lying on the ground. "I went close to the crater where the aircraft was buried and I knew that the pilot was beyond help. "This is the first time I am seeing this and it is too horrible to describe. When I found out later the identity of the pilot, I recited some prayers for her. I hope her family will take it as God's will and be patient." Meanwhile, RMAF public relations officer Mejar Roslan Salam in a Press statement said the trainee officer had begun the flight from the academy in Kepala Batas at 11.19am and crashed at 12.20pm. Rescuers, comprising members from the RMAF, police and the Fire and Rescue Department from Bukit Kayu Hitam and Kubang Pasu, recovered her body at 6.30pm and sent it to Alor Star Hospital for post-mortem. Roslan said the RMAF is bringing the victim's parents and other immediate family by air to Alor Star. This is the second crash in Sintok. The first was on Sept 25, 1990 when a young RMAF leftenan died in a crash involving the PC-7 aircraft which hit part of a Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) hostel building. Yesterday's tragedy was also the first involving a woman trainee pilot since the first crash in 1986. It is learnt that the RMAF has 36 PC-7 stationed at the academy in Kepala Batas and these aircraft are used to train the new trainee pilots before they move on to other aircrafts. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Mai Elny Sefrina, who was the fifth of six siblings, had nurtured her dreams of becoming the first woman pilot for the transport aircraft B-733. She had even turned down offers to go to other institutions of higher learning including the Universiti Tenaga Nasional and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia just to pursue her dreams. Source : http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Wednesday/Frontpage/20030813114356 Dunno anything abt aircraft, but what made she wanted to fly a B-733 aircraft? |
| 08/13/03 at 23:51:14 |
| NinthMuharram |
| Re: News from Malaysia (our trainee pilot died) |
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| timbuktu |
| 08/15/03 at 02:46:40 |
| [slm] [center] inna lillahi wa inna ilehi ra'ajioon[/center] |
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