KUALA LUMPUR – The US authorities are expected to attempt to extract the data from the memory puck recovered from last week’s plane wreckage in Bandar Elmina, Shah Alam next Monday.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the data from the memory puck, which contains voice recordings from the final 30 minutes of the ill-fated flight, is expected to be sent to the aircraft’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in Florida today.
This comes after Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) was unable to retrieve the data in question.
“After attempts (to recover the data) were unsuccessful in Singapore, the AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Bureau) chief returned to Kuala Lumpur (on Tuesday) and gave me a full briefing.
“The initial plan was (for the AAIB chief) to immediately leave for Florida then, but he needed to get his visa approved first. So, at 7pm today, he will be bringing the memory puck to the US,” Loke said when met by reporters after an event here today, as reported by news outlets.
Noting that the AAIB chief is expected to be in the US for several days, Loke said preparations have been made at the OEM’s factories where the memory puck is expected to be analysed on Monday.
On Tuesday, he said there were certain technical issues and restrictions that prevented the TSIB team from retrieving the data, prompting the decision to send the device to Florida.
He added that cost is not an issue for the government as it undertakes efforts to obtain answers on the sudden crash.
The crash last Thursday (August 17) resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, including two crew members, six passengers, one motorcyclist and one motorcar driver.
The flight crashed two minutes before it was due to land at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang after its departure from the Langkawi International Airport.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia later said that the aircraft did not make any mayday calls prior to the accident. – August 24, 2023