KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — A total of 21 divers from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) are involved in the second phase of the search for the black box of the agency’s AW 139 helicopter, which made an emergency landing on Pulau Angsa on March 5.
Its director-general Maritime Admiral Datuk Hamid Mohd Amin said this time, the search focused on the range of the location of the black box between 50 to 100 metres radius based on the signal from the pinger.
Based on the information obtained from the Royal Malaysian Navy’s National Hydrographic Centre (PHN), the black box is believed to be around 700 to 800 meters from the helicopter’s emergency landing area.
“According to the report, the divers are having difficulty finding the black box due to the strong currents on the seabed in addition to the limited visibility in the water due to the muddy seabed.
“However, MMEA is positive that the black box will be found soon,” he said in a statement today.
Hamid added that alongside the divers, the search mission also involved the PHN sonar crew, the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the APMM’s aircraft service provider, Galaxy (M) Sdn Bhd.
“The first phase of the search for the plane’s black box was carried out from March 6 to March 24, with the focus location being around a kilometre radius in the area where the helicopter involved made the emergency landing,” he said.
— Bernama
