Richard Chan, 58, died when a helicopter he was flying crashed in the Chikus forest reserve on Sept 11.

His widow, Leung Lai Oi, claimed his body from Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun here earlier today.

“I really couldn’t believe it when my husband’s friend informed me about the accident,” Leung told FMT, adding that she had spoken to Chan a day before the incident.

Leung said she found out about the disappearance of the helicopter at about 11pm on Sept 11, and started to look for news reports confirming the incident.

Chan was flying from Subang to Ipoh in the Eurocopter EC120B helicopter belonging to a private company when he lost radio contact with the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre at 12.16pm.

The helicopter was supposed to land at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport here at 12.37pm, an hour after departing Subang.

Rescue operations were initiated the same day but were hampered by bad weather at night. The wreckage was found after rescue efforts resumed the next morning.

It was previously reported that Chan was found alive but lost consciousness during the rescue and died soon after.

According to Leung, her husband started working in Malaysia “five or six years ago”. The couple wed in 2000 and have no children.

Leung said her husband’s ashes would be brought back to Hong Kong on Oct 16 after he is cremated here.