All 10 crew members killed after two naval helicopters collide mid-air during training in Malaysia

All ten crew members on board two helicopters were killed in a mid-air collision during training at a Royal Malaysian Navy celebration event on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32am (local time), the navy said in a statement.

The victims were “confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut army base hospital for identification”, it added.

A video from the incident showed multiple helicopters getting into a formation when one of the helicopters clipped the rotor of the other aircraft before spiralling to the ground.

The helicopters – Fennec M502-6 and HOM M503-3 – crashed during a flyover training exercise for the 90th Naval Day celebrations.

The HOM with seven crew members on board crashed on the stairs of the navy stadium and the Fennec manned by a three-member crew dived into the swimming pool of the sports complex, The Star reported.

The HOM was produced by AgustaWestland, which is a subsidiary of the Italian defense contractor Leonardo, while the Fennec was manufactured by European multinational defense conglomerate Airbus.

In the viral video, fragments of the helicopters could be seen flying in the air and landing near an open field where navy members had assembled for rehearsal.

Malaysia’s fire and rescue department rushed to the spot after being informed about the accident at 9.50am (local time).

Prime minister Anwar Ibrahim offered condolences to the bereaved families. "The nation mourns the heart-wrenching tragedy involving the crash of two helicopters at Lumut TLDM Base today.

"This tragedy turned out to have a profound effect on the families of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) and a great loss for the country.

"I was informed that an immediate investigation will be carried out by the Ministry of Defence, especially TLDM, to find the cause of the crash," the prime minister said in a post on X.

Efforts were underway to verify the identities of the crew members killed, all of whom were below the age of 40, defence minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin told reporters.

The navy said it would set up an investigation board to identify the cause of the incident.