Sabah crash survivor: One of the propellers was still spinning

Sabah crash survivor: One of the propellers was still spinning

Mere seconds before the plane crashed, passenger Erwanshah Einin was prepared for the worst. He shut his eyes as the 19-seater Twin Otter clipped trees, hit a home and spun before coming to a halt.

Two people were killed and five injured when the MASwings flight went off course as it approached the runway. The plane had left Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and was scheduled to land in Kudat, also in Sabah, about 170km away, when the incident happened.

The co-pilot, Mr Marc Joel Bansh, was among those killed. Mr Erwanshah told The New Straits Times that after the plane missed the runway by 200m, chaos reigned.

Said the factory clerk, 23: "Passengers were screaming, there was so much smoke, the engine was still running and one of the propellers was still spinning. I had to get out of there fast." Mr Erwanshah, who was seated in the third row from the front, said he managed to open the front door.

Screaming He said: "I helped a woman who was screaming that she could not get her safety belt off from her and a child seated nearby.

"I got them out of their seats and they exited through the rear while I went to help the two pilots in front." He found them in their seats and also discovered that the front of the aircraft had been ripped open. Another passenger, Ms Junaini Bladi, 52, said the pilots and a few passengers were helped by rescuers, who came within minutes of the crash.

She said at the hospital: "I can't remember much, but knew something was not right when the aircraft could not land the first time and turned towards the sea before making another attempt. Then, there was a big jolt and I saw things being strewn all over before a crash."

Ms Suriyati Masair, 38, and her son, Fahrulrazi Qayyum, 11, were in the living room watching television when the aircraft hit the roof of her single-storey home and damaged the kitchen, dining room and fence.

She told NST: "What scared me was the propeller blade, which was still spinning. I quickly got my son out through one of the rooms which has an exit at the back of the house. "I saw some passengers who managed to climb out of the wreckage. They looked dazed.

"One asked for a pair of scissors as he wanted to help cut the safety belt of some of those stuck in their seats. I also led some of them to the road for help." She and her husband, Mr Qayyum Amirdad, 51, and four children live at the house about 200m from the runway.


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