Two members of the Royal Malaysian Air Force were killed in a helicopter crash early today near the northern town of Butterworth, the official Bernama news agency reported.

The Nuri helicopter came down in a housing estate next to the airforce base from where it had taken off, but there were no reports of casualties on the ground, Bernama said.

The roofs of two house were damged when hit by the aircraft's rotor blades as it crashed between two blocks of terrace houses at the Taman Udara housing estate in Permatang Tengah.

"Luckily, no civilian was injured as many of them had gone to work while the children were in school," said local police chief Mohd Sharif Hassan.

No human error

Airforce chief Abdullah Ahmad identified the two crew members who died as 27-year-old co-pilot Captain Dicky Rishi Chin and 33-year-old Sergeant Zailani Abdul Kadir.

The pilot, Captain Yuhaizam Yahaya, 33, sustained internal injuries and has been admitted to a local hospital, he said.

Abdullah said that from the conversation with the pilot there was no human error involved in the crash. "The helicopter was in the air for 10 to 15 minutes and then crashed."

Abdullah said all Nuri helicopters, which were introduced in 1967, would be grounded and a four-member panel would be set up to investigate the cause of the crash. - AFP