MASWINGS CRASH IN KUDAT:
Lucky escape for mom and son in the house
KOTA KINABALU: A mother and her son escaped death when a MASWings aircraft crashed as it was attempting to land on the Kudat airport and ploughed into the side of their single-storey house in the nearby Kampung Sin San.
Their house is located just behind Kudat Airport.
House owner Qayyum Amirdad, 51, said his wife and 11-year old son were in the living room when they heard a loud noise before the aircraft crashed into the side of their house.
"The plane came from the back and hit our bedroom, dining hall and car porch," he said when contacted.
Qayyum who was not at home at the time, said he was shocked when he heard the news and rushed home to find firefighters and police at the scene assisting the passengers out from the plane.
He said one of the aircraft fans was still spinning at the time.
"My wife and son were still inside the house and they were panicking so I told them to leave through the back door.
They were panic and I told them to leave the house through the back door," he said.
The crash claimed the lives of passenger Tan Ah Chai, 96, who died at the Kudat Hospital in the afternoon and co-pilot Marc Joel Bansh, 23, who died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu at 9.05pm.
Meanwhile, one of the passenger said the aircraft did not touch the runway.
Erwanshah Einin, 23, said the MasWings Twin Otter aircraft crashed into a fence before it struck the house.
"It felt like a strong jolt and everything inside the aircraft was thrown all over including the passengers," said Erwanshah who boarded the flight in Kota Kinabalu heading towards Sandakan at about 2.05pm.
There 16 passengers on board including a pilot and a co pilot.
