Let investigators do their job

 

All it took was three minutes. From the time the Beechcraft Model 390 light aircraft was given clearance to land at Subang airport, to the moment it smashed into the highway at Elmina, near Shah Alam.

It was 2.47pm when the pilots contacted the control tower for permission to land. The Subang air traffic controller gave the go-ahead at 2.48pm. At 2.51pm, the control tower noticed black smoke billowing in the distance.

Six passengers and two crew members of the aircraft were killed on impact, as well as a passing motorist and motorcyclist who were hit when the private jet crashed onto the highway.

No mayday call had been sent by the pilots, nor had they reported any engine trouble during the duration of the relatively short flight from Langkawi airport.

As is normal in any accident, including aeroplane crashes, the authorities and the air accident investigators have secured the site. In other words, the area where the crash occurred is treated as a “crime scene”.

Analysis of the cockpit data such as voice recordings is as important as retrieving the plane parts for vital clues. This is part and parcel of the detailed investigative report. Recommendations to prevent similar accidents recurring will be included.

Hence, each metal or plastic debris, any metal cowling, each chunk of mangled metal however big or small, nut or bolt, sheared metal components, or even any rubber fragments recovered from the scene can provide clues.

Reassembling the recovered wreckage is crucial. The team of investigators will document the evidence as part of its overall detailed report, and its precise location from where the pieces were found.

Reconstruction was done in the Concorde crash in 2000 in which it was found that the plane’s fuel tanks had been ruptured thus triggering the chain of events that led to its fiery end soon after take-off, moments before it crashed into a hotel.

Accident investigators extended their search to the runway from where the Concorde had taken off. A 17-inch titanium strip from another airline, a Continental DC-10, had fallen onto the runway and punctured the Concorde’s tyres. These tyre fragments had pierced the Concorde’s fuel tanks. The court found the Continental Airlines mechanic guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

However painstaking and dangerous, recovery was also performed for Malaysia Airlines MH17, when fragments of the downed airliner were recovered and brought to the Netherlands for reconstruction.

MH17 was shot down by artillery fire in the skies above eastern Ukraine. Site access was difficult because of the fighting between the rebel forces and the Russian army.

Unlike MH17, site access to the Elmina area is easy. Therefore, it is all the more important to prevent bystanders from getting in the way of the investigators, or worse still, when irresponsible people may retrieve fragments as “souvenirs”.

It is worrying that VVIP visits to such crash sites, although they may be difficult to turn down, are a common practice in Malaysia.

Everyone wants to show they care, but this is not how it should be done. It is distracting and impacts on the focus of those involved in the investigation.

In the US, President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris refused to travel to Maui, Hawaii, soon after the devastating wildfires engulfed the island. They did not want to distract the ongoing rescue efforts.

They were right and acted sensibly. If Biden were to visit, concentration shifts to the president instead of on the relief efforts to help the victims.

Sometimes, doing less is more. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.