BUTTERWORTH: Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) pilot Kapt Mohamad Affendi Bustamy and his co-pilot Mej Mohd Fareez Omar managed to eject themselves from the aircraft prior to the crash, an investigation has found.

       State police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain (pic) said in the 10.07pm incident on Tuesday (Nov 16), both men were able to eject from the cockpit before the aircraft crashed at the base in Teluk Ayer Tawar.

       “During the incident, both were flying in a Hawk 108 plane in a night training exercise.

       “The aircraft crashed and exploded but both pilots managed to eject prior to the crash.

       “Unfortunately pilot Kapt Mohamad Affendi died while co-pilot Mej Mohd Fareez was sent to Seberang Jaya Hospital,” he said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 18).

       He said a post-mortem found that Kapt Mohamad Affendi died of "multiple injuries consistent with an air crash".

       “The case has been classified under sudden death and detailed investigations are ongoing.

       “A statement from the co-pilot is pending as Mej Mohd Fareez is still undergoing treatment for his injuries," Comm Mohd Shuhaily said.

       He added that Kapt Mohamad Affendi was buried at 8.30pm on Wednesday (Nov 17) at his hometown of Muadzam Shah in Pahang.