Thirty-five years have passed, but Chandrasegaran S M Mani still vividly remembers the day a routine Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) mission nearly turned fatal.
The retired Warrant Officer II was just 22 when the Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri helicopter in which he was travelling crashed into a rubber plantation at Kampung Parit Zin in Muar, Johor, on Jan 16, 1991.
Against the odds, all 12 people onboard survived.
Speaking during the Air Force 50th Golden Jubilee Celebration of Intake 1976 held at the Air Force Recreation Club in Subang on May 30, Chandrasegaran recalled the ordeal that remains etched in his memory.
“It was an unforgettable jolt in my life,” he said.
At the time, he was serving as a sergeant with the Nuri’s 10th Squadron at the Sungai Besi air base in Kuala Lumpur.
“We were part of a technical team despatched to Kluang to salvage another stricken Nuri that had engine starter issues,” he recounted.
“As there were no spares at the Kluang base, we ferried it over. Although it was an electrical component, it required an engine man to do the job.”
As the helicopter approached Tangkak, worsening weather forced it to descend from 3,000ft (914m) to about 1,000ft.
Then disaster struck. “Suddenly, the helicopter went out of control and was wobbling vigorously – we were jolted from our seats as the Nuri vibrated vehemently and shook like a wild horse.
“Thankfully, the credible airmanship of the well-trained pilots averted a fatal tragedy, as the Nuri was flared over the rubber trees to soften the impact.”
Naturally, everyone one board was “shaken up, but we were greatly relieved to scramble out of the helicopter unhurt”, Chandrasegaran went on.
“Much of its fuselage was badly damaged – a near total wreck.”
The crew comprised pilot Tien Sen An, co-pilot Saadan Basiron and air quartermaster Gobi Raja, who escaped with only a small cut on his hand. Also onboard was then RMAF Kuala Lumpur base commander Frank Chong Keng Lay.
With no mobile phones at the time, Tien sought help from a local villager to alert the RMAF base in Kuala Lumpur.
“Soon, word had spread around the village as police, media and onlookers arrived,” Chandrasegaran said.
The first rescue helicopter arrived about an hour later, flown by Sam Munisamy, with then RMAF Kluang base commander Goh Seng Toh onboard.
“Thirty minutes later, a second rescue helicopter arrived from KL, led by 10th Squadron commanding officer Affendi Mustapha.
“We were all airlifted back to the KL base for a thorough medical check at the Institute of Aviation Medicine.”
Investigations later revealed that metal fatigue had caused one of the rotor blades to break, leading to the crash.
For Chandrasegaran and his comrades, the incident served as a reminder of the risks that came with flying military aircraft , and of the discipline needed to prevent such close calls from happening again.
“We subsequently tightened inspection of the blades every 60 flying hours,” he noted.
Life in uniform did not slow down for Chandrasegaran thereafter. Two years after the crash, he found himself far from home again, this time in Cambodia as part of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia peacekeeping mission.
The RMAF had deployed eight Nuri helicopters to Kampung Chhnang, where Malaysian personnel supported international peacekeeping operations in the war-scarred country.
After retiring from the RMAF, Chandrasegaran worked as a procurement executive serving the oil and gas, utilities and industrial sectors. But even after a lifetime of service and a successful second career, that January morning in Johor remains vivid.
At the reunion, surrounded by men who had once shared the same bases, missions and dangers, Chandrasegaran was reminded not only of the crash but also of the comradeship that carried them through their years in uniform.
“It was a day I will never forget,” he said.
