Co-pilot, passenger die in MASWings' crash in Kudat

KOTA KINABALU - A co-pilot and a passenger were killed while four others were injured after a Twin Otter aircraft belonging to MASWings, crashed while attempting to land at 2.50pm from Kudat Airport, about 150km from here.

Kudat police chief deputy Deputy Superintedent Dawi Ossen said a passenger Tan Ah Chai, 96, died at the Kudat Hospital in the afternoon.

The second victim, co-pilot Marc Joel Bansh, 23, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu at 9.05pm.

Bansh was flown from Kudat to KK about 6.30pm for further treament and was warded at the QEH intensive care unit.

The DHC-6 Twin Otter 9M-MDM was carrying 16 passengers, including two children, from KK to Kudat when it overshot the runway and ploughed into a house at the nearby Kampung Sin-San about 2.50pm.

A woman and her 11-year old son who were in the living room at the time, escaped unhurt when the aircraft crashed into the bedroom, dining hall and porch.

According to MASwing schedule, flight MH3002 was slated to arrive from KK to Kudat at 2.45pm and depart from Kudat at 3pm to Sandakan. In a statement here tonight, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said the crash occurred in the vicinity of the airport at 2.50pm.

It said six people were injured and that the total number of passengers and crew onboard totalled 16, adding that this was the first incident involving MASwings at Kudat.

Earlier, a Sabah health department spokesperson said six out of the 16 victims from the plane crash this afternoon were treated at Kudat Hospital's accident and emergency department.

"Three of them are treated in red zone, while others are in yellow zone," he told the New Straits Times.

Red zone is a cubicle meant to treat life-threatening condition, while yellow zone is for semi critical.

He said the was a possibility that those who were severely injured would be transferred to hospitals in Kota Kinabalu as there might be a need for better medical facility and experts here.

The department has set up an operations room at Kudat hospital to handle the situation.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department public relations officer Mohd Affendy Ramin said 10 other passengers received outpatient treatment.

He said they received a distress call at 2.54pm and deployed 10 firefighters who helped to rescue the people onboard.

Meanwhile, Tanjung Kapor Assemblyman Datuk Teo Chee Kang said the aircraft crashed after it failed to take off.

"I was told that the aircraft crashed after it failed to take off. My officers are on the ground and I am urging the authority to get to the root of it," said Teo, who is the State Special Tasks Minister when contacted.