13-2-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) A tragic incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon near the town of Kapar in Malaysia’s Selangor state as a light aircraft crashed, resulting in the death of the pilot and another person on board.
Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan confirmed that the aircraft involved was a recreational plane. “The pilot was an instructor affiliated with a recreational flying club, and the passenger was a member of the club,” he stated, as quoted by the Star.
Both victims, who were Malaysians, were found in the cockpit of the aircraft. Initially, authorities faced challenges in retrieving the bodies due to a portion of the plane being buried approximately 2 meters deep in the ground of an oil palm plantation. However, the bodies have since been transported to a hospital for post-mortem examinations. Hussein added that the crash did not cause any damage to nearby residential areas.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed earlier that two individuals were on board the aircraft, which was a Blackshape BK160 Gabriel, owned by Air Adventure Flying Club. The plane took off from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor, at 1.28pm (5.28am GMT) for a recreational flight.
Captain Norazman Mahmud, the CEO of CAAM, stated that the last contact made by the aircraft with air traffic control was at 1.35pm, but no distress call was received. Images of the wreckage revealed the logo of Singapore-based company Aviation Safety Technology (AST) on the tail of the aircraft.
In a shocking accident, a Blackshape BK160TR Gabriél aircraft (I-POOC) disintegrated mid-flight and crashed near an oil palm plantation area in Kapar ,Klang, Malaysia at approximately 2:30PM today.#aircraft #safety #aviation pic.twitter.com/XgQsc1KdPc
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) February 13, 2024
Earlier in the day, a 17-second video capturing the wreckage of the unidentified aircraft in a palm oil plantation went viral. An eyewitness, Jinaidi Nasiran, reported to the Bernama news agency that he observed the light aircraft flying in an unusual pattern before the crash.
“I noticed something was off with the way the aircraft was flying,” he said. “Suddenly, it nose-dived into the ground… I rushed to the crash site and saw that the plane was already in pieces and partially buried in the ground. I tried to look for victims, but none were spotted.”
Siti Zubaidah Salin, a 60-year-old resident, recounted hearing a loud explosion and feeling a tremor, initially mistaking it for an earthquake. “I ran outside, but there was nothing. It was only later that I heard people talking about a plane crash,” she said.
Another witness, fruit seller Sufian Hadi Abas, also heard a loud explosion in the air. “When I looked up, I saw fragments of the plane flying everywhere before it crashed into the ground,” he described.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash, and further updates are awaited as the investigation progresses.
