Malaysia Seeking ICAO Certification To Analyse Black Box

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is seeking to set up a Malaysian Transport Safety Board to enable it to have a certified laboratory to analyse aircraft black boxes. Deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said Malaysia did not have the facility and would refer any black box to a laboratory accredited by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for analysis. "The black box of the Dauphin AS3655N2 (9M-1GB) helicopter must be sent to the United Kingdom for analysis because the laboratory there is recognisd by ICAO," he told reporters in the Parliament lobby. He was asked to comment on the action of the Transport Ministry in sending the black box of the chopper which crashed in Semenyih, Selangor on Saturday to the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) in Farnborough, United Kingdom to analyse the cause of the mishap. In the incident at 4.55 pm, all six people on board the helicopter, including Rompin Member of Parliament, Jamaluddin Jarjis were killed, together with the prime minister's principal private secretary, Azlin Alias, Fournier operations assistant Aidana Baizieva, businessman Tan Huat Seang and Jamaluddin's bodyguard Razakan B. Seran. Abdul Aziz said the board, which was expected to be set up at the end of this year, would comprise experts in the aviation industry. With the setting up of the safety board, Malaysia would be certified to analyse any aircraft black box, he added. The chopper crashed at Jalan Sungai Lalang, Kampung Pasir Baru, Semenyih about 40 km from Kuala Lumpur Saturday evening. Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has initiated an investigation into this crash. Prime Minister Najib Razak orders full, thorough, comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the crash. -- BERNAMA