Last of a three-part series
The establishment of the Sarawak Regional Air Base Bomba Malaysia in Miri in July 2013 represented a milestone in the history of the State Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba).
“It was set up to provide air support for operations in Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan,” explained State Bomba director Khirudin Drahman.
He added that the establishment of the air base in Sarawak helped to instill confidence in the common people, stakeholders, investors, tourists and adventurers.
“A good air support is always vital for Bomba. From the coastal areas to the rivers and forests, the air unit contributes to how fast the department can respond to emergencies. It also minimises the impact of any incidents.
“When you look at the topography locally and regionally, the air support for response to incidents at the remote and inaccessible areas is crucial. We are fortunate that we were able to convince the government to set up the air unit in Sarawak.
“The air unit enhances our capability especially for search and rescue (SAR) operations, medical-medevac, aerial surveillance, logistics, manpower and so on,” explained Khirudin.
He said a boat tragedy in Belaga in May 2013 convinced Bomba Malaysia to set up an air base in Borneo.
“The tragedy was said to be one of the worst in the country. The boat had crashed onto rocks in the Rajang River.
“At that time, the State Bomba could only conduct search and rescue (SAR) efforts on the ground and these went on for a few days.
“That tragedy showed how important it was to have air support, especially for SAR missions. Thus, the Sarawak Regional Air Base Bomba Malaysia was established to provide air support for operations in Sabah and Sarawak region by utilising two Mi-171 helicopters centralised in Miri,” recalled Khirudin.
“At the moment, the air base is using the AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter to cover for the Mi-171 which is currently undergoing major overhauling,” he added.
During the current Covid-19 pandemic, the air unit is actively involved in delivering the Covid-19 vaccines as well as food assistance to remote villages in the Sarawak’s vast interior.
“Our air unit in Miri has shown great commitment in ensuring that the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP) under the Mobile Outreach Vaccination Programme runs smoothly to achieve the 80 percent herd immunity target for the country.
“It is also our task and responsibility to make sure that every Sarawakian gets his/her Covid-19 vaccine doses. We do so by assisting and mobilising the medical teams to places that are inaccessible by road or river transportation,” Khirudin said.
He pointed out that it was very expensive to operate helicopters.
“Thus, the deployment of the air unit to assist and mobilise the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines often fully utilises the six hours of flying that aircraft is capable of,” he said.
Khirudin also said that the air unit for the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Malaysia was officially formed in 1998.
“A large-scale air quality disaster dubbed the 1997 Southeast Asian haze, which occurred during the second half of 1997, had strengthened support for the air unit to be formed urgently.
“Prior to that, Bomba Malaysia had to rely on the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) and Royal Malaysian Navy.
“When haze of 1997 badly affected the whole nation, it was noted that the department lacked the logistics, particularly for aerial monitoring and aerial water bombing,” said Khirudin.
He recalled there was an exhibition where a few countries displayed their helicopters and Bambi buckets for forest fires. After that, the prime minister then, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested the formation of the air unit for Bomba.
Back then, Khirudin had just been promoted to Supt in charge of Sibu Zone and had just returned from Japan. After pursuing Masters in Emergency Response and Planning at Universiti Pertahanan Malaysia (UPM), he was promoted to Senior Supt and appointed as commandant of the training academy.
“As the commandant, I was asked to scout around for potential pilots within our department. In 2003. We started the programme with special approval from the Public Service Department (JPA) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) for the budget to train pilots in Brisbane, Australia.
“By 2008, we started to train new pilots locally with a series of competency training to level up our own flight commanders. With this, the seconded TUDM and Royal Malaysian Navy pilots returned to their own units,” he said.
Khirudin said that the air unit started off with four helicopters, namely, the Russian Mi-17 Kazans and Mi-171s. As the aircraft were Russian made, the pilots were sent to Kazan, Russia for Type Rating on the Mi-17 Kazans and Mi-171s.
Currently, almost 90 percent of the department’s pilots are Bomba personnel and they were required to clock in competent flying hours to become flight commanders.
The air unit currently has 28 pilots; 27 are Bomba pilots while one is on contract. Two of the pilots are permanently stationed in Miri.
Khirudin said Bomba Malaysia started operating the AgustaWestland AW109 in 2008 and later the AW139. The air unit is currently anticipating the arrival of a new AW189.
The department has an air base in Subang, Selangor (main operations base), in Bertam in Pulau Pinang (for northern west coast) and in Miri, Sarawak (for Borneo).
“With my posting to Sarawak, I am blessed to see how much the air units for Bomba have developed and grown,” added Khirudin.
The Bomba aircrew with the Mi-171. 
The Bomba aircrew with the Mi-171.
