Co-pilot injured in Hawk 108 crash incident undergoes successful surgery

BUTTERWORTH: Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) pilot Major Mohd Fareez Omar, who was injured in the Hawk 108 fighter jet crash at the RMAF Butterworth Air Base on Tuesday (Nov 15), successfully underwent surgery last night.

Mohd Fareez's father, Omar Deros, 62, said the surgery to fix his son's waist and back injuries which began at 7.30 pm at the Seberang Jaya Hospital (HSJ) took about four hours.

"Alhamdulillah, Fareez underwent the surgery last night and according to the RMAF, he is currently placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at HSJ for monitoring and close observation by the team of doctors there.

"I also had the opportunity to meet Fareez at the HSJ ICU yesterday afternoon, and he was in a stable condition but still weak. We had a chat and he informed me of the pain in his waist and back, and that (otherwise) he is okay," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

In the accident that occurred at 10.07 pm on Tuesday (Nov 16), RMAF pilot Capt Mohamad Affendi Bustamy, 31, was killed, while Mohd Fareez, 33, was injured while the two were undergoing night flight training at the Butterworth Air Base in Penang.

-- BERNAMA