MIRI: A total of 21 personnel from various agencies are being prepared for deployment to Long Lellang, Ulu Baram, today to continue operations following the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter incident in the area.
The team comprises 15 personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM), four personnel from the Marudi district police headquarters (IPD), one representative from Layang-Layang Aerospace and one representative from Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB).
The deployment to Long Lellang using JBPM’s MI-171 helicopter (M994-04) is planned in stages, with the first flight carrying the operations team, followed by a flight transporting the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) forensic team.
Prior to the deployment, an operational briefing was held at the JBPM Sarawak Regional Air Base in Miri to detail flight safety, weather conditions, logistics and the implementation of operations at the incident site.
The briefing was delivered by Senior Fire Superintendent II Captain Robert James and attended by Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring), Datuk Gerawat Gala; Miri Resident Galong Luang; Miri district police chief ACP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah; and Marudi district police chief DSP Nor Aizan Mohd Jamil.
Operational coordination was also carried out with PDRM, JBPM, MAB and Layang-Layang Aerospace to ensure the movement of personnel and operational requirements to Long Lellang could be carried out in an orderly manner.
However, as of 9.45am, the flight had yet to take place due to rainy conditions and would proceed when weather conditions and flight safety considerations permitted.
Earlier, a helicopter operating the FDS was reported to have crashed near the Long Lellang STOLport on Tuesday (Sept 8) afternoon.
As of this report, the status of the five individuals involved in the incident is still awaiting official confirmation from the authorities, while follow-up operations in Long Lellang continue to be intensified through multi-agency coordination.
