KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) doesn’t plan to suspend its Flying Doctor Service (FDS), despite yesterday’s fatal crash of a service helicopter in Sarawak that killed all five onboard.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said FDS, which provides health care access to people living in remote areas, remained important for achieving universal health coverage.
“We will continue. There is no reason or need for this service [not] to continue,” Dzulkefly told a press conference here today that was broadcast live on Facebook.
“One of the important things that we want to achieve through FDS is universal health coverage. So we will continue and we will ‘double down’, and we will strengthen and continue to provide [the service].”
The MOH’s decision to continue the service came despite the ministry not having the maintenance history of the helicopter that crashed.
Health director-general Dr Mahathar Abd Wahab, who was at the same press conference, said MOH did not have the information, when reporters asked whether it knew the aircraft’s maintenance history.
“We don’t have that information,” he said.
Dzulkefly said he had asked his team to obtain the helicopter’s full maintenance history but had yet to receive it. He said the aircraft was maintained periodically under the contracted service.
“It’s a contracted service and we certainly want safety to remain at a good level,” Dzulkefly said.
“This FDS service, which began in the 1970s, has always been contracted out. We ourselves do not have the helicopter assets.”
Dr Mahathar said MOH would consider information from the relevant authorities before deciding whether helicopter use could continue for FDS.
“Everyone knows how important the FDS service is for the rural areas of Sarawak,” he said. “From the aspect of safety, especially in terms of the use of helicopters and so on, that safety aspect is under the jurisdiction of the relevant agencies.”
Asked whether MOH monitored the condition of FDS aircraft, amid questions about the age of the crashed helicopter, Dzulkefly said safety requirements were stringent.
“Matters related to technical aspects, matters related to safety, we do not compromise on these at all,” said the health minister.
However, he said technical questions were better directed to the relevant authorities.
Dr Mahathar was also asked whether the helicopter had been allowed to fly yesterday despite the presence of haze in the area.
He said aircraft were permitted to fly only after complying with the relevant safety procedures, but that the decision rested with the aviation authorities, not MOH.
Dr Mahathar referred questions about whether the helicopter had been cleared to fly under yesterday’s conditions to the relevant authorities.
Earlier today, Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran urged the government to temporarily ground BO-105 helicopters, pending investigations into the crash and confirmation of its cause.
The DAP lawmaker claimed that the BO-105 helicopter, which was involved in the crash, was a reconditioned aircraft. The BO-105 model was built in 1991 in Germany and fully retired in 2001, making the aircraft model 35 years old.
Although FDS is operated by a private company under a government contract, Dr Lingeshwaran said the government remained responsible for ensuring contractors used aircraft that met high safety and aviation standards.
The BO-105 helicopter, registered as 9M-LLF, crashed yesterday afternoon while travelling from Miri Airport to Long Lellang in Baram, Sarawak.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said the crash would be investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau under the Transport Ministry.
MOH To Review Scheduled FDS Services
Dr Mahathar said FDS comprises scheduled services and medical evacuation, or Medevac.
Scheduled services are carried out once a month or every two months depending on the needs of people living in remote areas, while Medevac (medical evacuation) is used to transport critically ill patients who require treatment.
MOH will continue Medevac flights for critical patients, provided the flights are permitted and weather and other safety conditions allow it, Dr Mahathar said.
“If there is a need to transport critical patients and in situations where the flight is permitted, there are no weather issues and so on, it needs to be carried out because it involves critical patients,” he said.
However, MOH will review the scheduled FDS services and provide further input to its teams on the ground from time to time.
Dzulkefly said medical emergencies needed to be prioritised because they involved patients’ lives and safety.
“We always take into consideration medical emergencies, and they need to be expedited because they involve life and safety,” he said.
Prior to his appointment as Health DG in May last year, Dr Mahathar served as head of the emergency and trauma department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).
MOH Sought Higher FDS Allowance Last November
On the RM30 allowance paid to health care workers accompanying patients on FDS flights, Dzulkefly said MOH had proposed increasing the payment to the relevant authorities last November.
The Air Health Service Incentive Payment was created in 1978 and currently pays medical officers, assistant medical officers, nurses and community nurses RM30 for a return flight.
“This is certainly a question that we – myself as the minister, the secretary-general, and the top management of MOH – have generally looked at in terms of the welfare of our staff,” he said.
“Among the proposals that we have raised is the Flying Doctor allowance, which we had already raised at the end of last year, in November 2025 to be exact.”
He said MOH was confident of receiving a positive response from the relevant authorities.
“We know that we need to provide what is appropriate,” Dzulkefly said.
SAR Team Begins Retrieving Five Victims From Remote Crash Site
Dr Mahathar said search and recovery efforts to retrieve the victims began at 7.30am today, but the remote location of the crash site had made access difficult.
“As of this morning, at 7.30am, the effort had begun and we will receive confirmation from the incident commander,” he said.
The crash involved a pilot and four MOH health care workers on official duty, including a 33-year-old medical officer from Kelantan, an assistant medical officer, and two nurses.
Dr Mahathar urged the media to obtain confirmation of the victims’ identities through the relevant authorities.
“When there is a tragedy like this, any information regarding the names of the victims and so on needs to go through the proper procedures and process,” he said.
He said the incident commander, identified as the Sarawak police chief, and the SAR team were responsible for releasing the information.
