Malaysian MiG-29 Crashed

Eastern Region News

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November 09, 2004 22:44 PM

“We Saw MiG-29 Crash”, Say Estate Workers

KEMAMAN, Nov 9 (Bernama) — Several workers at the Ketengah Perwira oil palm plantation in Bandar Cheneh Baru near here claim to have seen the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that was reported to have crashed minutes after leaving the Kuantan airbase at 10.20am Tuesday.

Syahirah Ishak, 28, told reporters she saw two planes flying past and a person fall from one of them before the plane crashed into the plantation.

“I only saw the fire (on the jet) at about 10.30am and saw what looked like a person fall down,” she said, adding that she did not approach the crash site for fear of being scolded by the plantation management.

Indonesian worker Ahmed Herman Abdullah, 45, said he and two friends, who were harvesting oil palm fruits, heard the thundering noise of jets but thought they were on a training mission as they were flying low.

“Imagine our surprise when one of them suddenly crashed into the oil palm trees,” he said, adding that the plane then quickly caught fire.

Saidon Rahmet, who also claimed to have seen the plane dive and catch fire, said: “We tried to go to the crash site but the terrain was too steep and wet after the rain.”

Rudi Bagaman, 36, said the jet was flying too low before it went down. “It was terrible, just like in a movie. It caught fire but in 10 minutes a Nuri helicopter arrived and many troops got down,” he said.

A check by Bernama at the crash site found only the tail of the charred jet visible, with parts of its body scattered all around.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced in Kuala Lumpur this morning that the jet crashed 16 nautical miles Northwest of Kuantan airbase at 10.22am and the pilot ejected safely.

Preliminary reports said its engine caught fire before it crashed. Two other MiG-29 jets from the 19th squadron were flying with it in a normal training mission.

— BERNAMA