Data from crashed plane's cockpit voice recorder extracted, analysis ongoing

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) data of the aircraft that crashed onto the Guthrie Highway near Bandar Elmina in Shah Alam, Selangor, on Aug 17 has been extracted, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He said the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) finally managed to retrieve the data with the help of the CVR original equipment manufacturer (OEM) L3Harris at its laboratory in Florida, US.

"All the data was downloaded, including the last 30 minutes of voice recordings before the crash," he told a media conference in Putrajaya today.

Loke said the audio recordings had been sent to the investigation team in Malaysia for analysis, and a preliminary report was expected to be issued in two weeks' time.

"The voice recordings of the two pilots will be analysed in the best way possible, and all that transpired in the cockpit can become material for investigation to determine the cause of the tragedy," he added.

Loke said the preliminary report on the findings would be displayed on the transport ministry's website and would serve as the basis for the final report, which would normally take a year to prepare.

He said AAIB would conduct the investigation to establish the cause of the Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) crash and recommend safety measures for the future.

"It is not to find faults but to identify the cause of the crash.

"If the report shows there are weaknesses in any aspect, we need to take measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident," he said.

All eight people onboard the aircraft, including Pahang exco member Johari Harun, were killed in the crash. An e-hailing driver and a p-hailing rider travelling on the highway were also killed.

Loke said the AAIB team, which earlier failed to get the data extracted in Singapore, took the whole day to retrieve the data in Florida.

"They are facing difficulties leaving the US because of a hurricane storm in Florida. The team is still in Florida. They were supposed to leave immediately after retrieval of the data, but they can't.

"But the data has been transmitted back to a safe email system, so we already have the voice recordings in Malaysia. The data is in good condition, and the voice recordings are very clear," he said.