In the 10.15am incident, Airport Fire and Rescue Services officer Shaffiee Hassan, 59, fell from a fire engine and never regained consciousness despite a 20-minute attempt to resuscitate him.

Southwest district police chief A Anbalagan said a post-mortem at the Penang Hospital showed that he died due to ischemic heart disease.

Earlier in the morning, Shaffiee was part of a seven-hour aircraft crash drill. This is a twice-a-year drill requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation for all airports.

The press, who were invited to the drill, saw Shaffiee “rescuing” a casualty in the mock aircraft crash with his colleagues. He was then described to have turned pale and asked to take a break.

After a short break, he stood up and fell on to the ground moments later.

Around 500 people attended the drill with 15 agencies on site, including the police, health department and the civil defence.