He said the number of helicopter tragedies in the country was a bit worrying.

“Probably (the helicopter operations) need to be more refined and include the pilots. Definitely (relevant parties) need to identify the weaknesses in helicopter operations,” he told reporters after breaking fast with media personnel here last night.

Asked on the latest development on the helicopter crash in Sebuyau, Sarawak, on May 5, Aziz said the main frame of the helicopter was still missing.

The search would continue, he added.

Last week, the preliminary report on the AS350 helicopter crash in Batang Lupar indicated that the most probable impact point was in the river as the bodies of all occupants, pilot and several helicopter parts, were recovered from the river.

The report released by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) also said there was a possibility of the helicopter’s main frame being submerged in the river.

The ill-fated helicopter that crashed in Batang Lupar, Sebuyau, was carrying five passengers – Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Noriah Kasnon, her husband Asmuni Abdullah, and her bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun.

Two others in the helicopter were Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry secretary-general Sundaran Annamalai and Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, who was also Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman.

The helicopter was piloted by Captain Rudolf Rex Ragas.

In April last year, Rompin Member of Parliament Jamaluddin Jarjis was among the six people involved in a deadly helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor.

– BERNAMA