KUALA TERENGGANU (April 27): Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the government had no plans to temporarily suspend the service of Fennec and HOM helicopters.

"So far, it's not in that direction (temporary suspension)," he told reporters after completing the handover of ‘Rumah Kasih Ihsan’ at Kampung Dusun Tembakau in Manir, near here, on Saturday.

Mohamed Khaled said this when asked if there is a need to suspend the service of both types of helicopters following a crash on Tuesday morning involving the Maritime Operations Helicopter helicopter (HOM-AW139) and Fennec heliccopter (M502-6) at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base in Lumut, Perak, which killed 10 RMN officers and personnel, including three women.

All the remains of the crew who died in the crash had been laid to rest, with the last body, Lieutenant T Sivasutan, 31, cremated at the Manjung Hindu Sabha Sanathana Dharma Ashram Crematorium Centre in Sitiawan at 12.15pm on Thursday.

In the meantime, Mohamed Khaled confirmed that the wreckage of the two aircraft, including the black box, had already been removed from the scene of the incident on Thursday.

"I was informed that everything has been moved to the place where an investigation is being carried out," he said.

Mohamed Khaled said the investigation into the incident conducted by an investigation board established by RMN will also involve the Royal Malaysian Air Force and other experts, including the helicopter manufacturers.

In addition, he also did not rule out the possibility of external experts being involved in the investigation.

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