Unfinished business in 2004 copter tragedy
Tony ThienPublished: Apr 3, 2008 4:23 AM | Updated: Apr 3, 2008 8:43 AM
The tragedy of the July 2004 Hornbill helicopter crash in Bario, Sarawak where six people - including a state assistant minister - died seemed to be claiming more ‘victims'.
The tragedy of the July 2004 Hornbill helicopter crash in Bario, Sarawak where six people - including a state assistant minister - died seemed to be claiming more ‘victims'.
It has to do with the cost relating to the search-and-rescue operations that lasted nearly two weeks after the helicopter went down in mountainous terrain near the Bario highlands.
In that mission, co-ordinated from an operations centre in Miri, three private helicopters were chartered to transport people and supplies for the search-and-rescue parties on the ground.
The helicopters were chartered from three Sabah-based companies - Baltic Pacific Sdn Bhd, Layang-Layang Sdn Bhd and Penerbangan Sabah Sdn Bhd, otherwise known as Sabah Air.
The bills for the chartering of the Baltic and Layang Layang helicopters were sent to the state government were duly paid.
What still remains unpaid to-date - more than three years after the operation - is a bill for nearly RM500,000 to Penerbangan Sabah.
And the man whose signature was on the letter of quotation - dated July 15, 2004 - is being sued by the company.
Penerbangan Sabah has applied to the Kota Kinabalu High Court for a summary judgment, and the case will be heard next Monday.
Miri-based dental surgeon Dr Bob Baru Langub was one of the volunteers in the search-and-rescue operations to look for Dr Judson Tagal Sakai, the assistant minister who was found killed along with six others, including the pilot, two weeks later.
In his statement of defence, Bob Baru said he signed the documents "hurriedly and out of necessity and on the understanding and belief the state government will pay for all the charter flight services to be rendered by Penerbangan Sabah Sdn Bhd".
He was just a volunteer
At the time, he was one of the volunteers at the Miri Operations Centre set up by the state government to assist in the search-and-rescue mission involving the Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd's ill-fated helicopter that went down on July 12, 2004.
A concerned family member of Dr Bob Baru told Malaysiakini today he was merely a volunteer during the rescue mission and had only agreed to sign the piece of paper believing that the cost would be borne by the state government.
"He is a victim of circumstances," said a family lawyer friend. "It's utterly unfair."
The state cabinet was said to have agreed to settle the bill and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), the party that the late Judson belonged to, had even agreed to settle it if nobody else would.
"But to this day, the bill remains unpaid and why we don't know," the family member told Malaysiakini, after approaching the online news website to highlight Bob Baru's predicament.
It has to do with the cost relating to the search-and-rescue operations that lasted nearly two weeks after the helicopter went down in mountainous terrain near the Bario highlands.
In that mission, co-ordinated from an operations centre in Miri, three private helicopters were chartered to transport people and supplies for the search-and-rescue parties on the ground.
The helicopters were chartered from three Sabah-based companies - Baltic Pacific Sdn Bhd, Layang-Layang Sdn Bhd and Penerbangan Sabah Sdn Bhd, otherwise known as Sabah Air.
The bills for the chartering of the Baltic and Layang Layang helicopters were sent to the state government were duly paid.
What still remains unpaid to-date - more than three years after the operation - is a bill for nearly RM500,000 to Penerbangan Sabah.
And the man whose signature was on the letter of quotation - dated July 15, 2004 - is being sued by the company.
Penerbangan Sabah has applied to the Kota Kinabalu High Court for a summary judgment, and the case will be heard next Monday.
Miri-based dental surgeon Dr Bob Baru Langub was one of the volunteers in the search-and-rescue operations to look for Dr Judson Tagal Sakai, the assistant minister who was found killed along with six others, including the pilot, two weeks later.
In his statement of defence, Bob Baru said he signed the documents "hurriedly and out of necessity and on the understanding and belief the state government will pay for all the charter flight services to be rendered by Penerbangan Sabah Sdn Bhd".
He was just a volunteer
At the time, he was one of the volunteers at the Miri Operations Centre set up by the state government to assist in the search-and-rescue mission involving the Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd's ill-fated helicopter that went down on July 12, 2004.
A concerned family member of Dr Bob Baru told Malaysiakini today he was merely a volunteer during the rescue mission and had only agreed to sign the piece of paper believing that the cost would be borne by the state government.
"He is a victim of circumstances," said a family lawyer friend. "It's utterly unfair."
The state cabinet was said to have agreed to settle the bill and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), the party that the late Judson belonged to, had even agreed to settle it if nobody else would.
"But to this day, the bill remains unpaid and why we don't know," the family member told Malaysiakini, after approaching the online news website to highlight Bob Baru's predicament.
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