BERMUDA TRIANGLE, MALAYSIA
:1fairplay:
> another first? :)
BERMUDA TRIANGLE, MALAYSIA
Three aircraft crashes within a triangular region in Pahang
have revived comparisons with the famous area in the
Atlantic Ocean, but aviation authorities dismiss the idea
KUALA LUMPUR -- The crash of a Cessna aircraft in the heart
of Pahang on Monday has revived belief that the area could
be Malaysia's "Bermuda Triangle".
The Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, yesterday reported that
local residents believed the area linking Bentong, Jerantut
and Kuala Lipis in Pahang formed a triangle and might be
dangerous, similar to the area in the Atlantic Ocean where
more than 50 ships and 20 planes had reportedly disappeared.
But Malaysian aviation authorities have dismissed such
belief, saying the area was safe for all aircraft.
A Cessna 172 aircraft belonging to the Selangor Flying Club
crashed in Kampung Merting, Jerantut, killing a flight
instructor and two passengers on Monday.
The victims were the pilot, Aswin R. Seshadri, 22, an Indian
national; Swiss engineer Charles Estermann, 37; and his
Malaysian girlfriend, Wendy Soo Sum Kim, 29.
The accident happened while the aircraft was flying at low
levels. The plane is believed to have hit a Drainage and
Irrigation Department cable straddling 30 m above the 150
m-wide Tembeling river.
The crash occurred just two days after a Bulldog B-100
plunged into the sea off Pangkor Island in neighbouring
Perak on Saturday.
Both crew members escaped with minor injuries.
Utusan Malaysia, which reported widely on Monday's crash,
recalled two other mishaps in the Pahang jungle in recent
years.
It said that in March 1997 an Augusta A109 helicopter had
crashed in Kuala Lipis, killing prominent corporate leader
Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, who was chief of DRB-Hicom, his wife
and their pilot.
Earlier, in January 1982, a Cessna 206 carrying then
Malaysian Foreign Minister Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie crashed in
Bentong, killing the pilot and another passenger. Tan Sri
Ghazali survived the accident.
Reports said the route taken by Tan Sri Ghazali's aircraft
was treacherous because it had a low cloud base, poor
visibility and lots of air turbulence.
Asked to comment on the belief by residents about the area,
the assistant director of the Department of Civil Aviation,
Captain Yahya, said the authorities did not regard the area
as a Bermuda Triangle.
He said there were "no natural threats which could pose a
danger to aircraft flying in the area".
"The air space in that area is safe despite the crash of the
Cessna," he said.
He said the air mishaps in the area had been caused by
different factors and the terrain had nothing to do with
them.
The crash which killed Tan Sri Yahaya had occurred at night
at an altitude of 9,000 ft, he said, while last Monday's
tragedy had happened during the day.
"This shows that the accident was not caused by the area's
terrain," he said.
"There is no reason for the area to be classified as a
danger zone."
Capt Yahya said there were three factors that could have
caused Monday's crash: engine failure, pilot error or
weather conditions.
He said a thorough investigation would be carried out and it
would take some time to complete.
Crash!
Three aircraft have gone down in Malaysia's so-called
Bermuda Triangle.
January 1982: An aircraft carrying then Foreign Minister Tan
Sri Ghazali Shafie crashed in Bentong, killing the pilot and
another passenger.
March 1997: A helicopter crashed in Kuala Lipis, killing
corporate industrialist Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, his wife and
their pilot.
February 2000: A Selangor Flying Club aircraft crashed in
Jerantut, killing three.
kai
"conclusion".
The author of the article only shows him/herself as not investigative.
Please also tell us how many flights through this triangular area which turn
out to be safe during the same period... ask MAS perhaps.
If you draw a triangle big enough, say begining from one in say Moscow,
another one on Sydney and the third one on Anchorage, you will find more
flight crashes than the one in Pahang state over the same period of time. So
does it mean that there is another giant Bermuda Triangle on the
Euro-Asian-Pacific region?
Stop rumour mongering by painting a negative picture of M'sia and scare away
potential foreign tourists.
If the few village folks chose to believe that such a triangle exists, it
does not mean that learned reporters in Utusan M'sia have to accept their
view and subsequently publish in UM.