Flight Instructor Dies After Small Plane Crashes On Ipoh Road During Night Training

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The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), Datuk Captain Chester Voo, confirmed the accident that occurred at Sungai Pinji, near Medan Gopeng in a statement.

On a night training flight, the aircraft was reported to have departed from Sultan Azalan Shah Airport. However, at 8.07pm, the CAAM Ipoh Air Traffic Control Tower received a mayday call.

The aircraft is a Piper 28-161, registration 9M-BAA, and is operated by BATS Aviation Sdn Bhd.

New Straits Times reported that the 52-year-old flight instructor, identified as Fajim Juffa Mustafa Kamal, was pronounced dead at the scene while his 62-year-old chief flight instructor, Muhammad Din Fikri Zainal Abidin, suffered injuries.

Din was brought out of the wreckage at 9.10pm as Fajim was retrieved 10 minutes later and was taken to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB). A post-mortem is expected to be conducted today, 2 August.

As of now, the cause of the incident remains unknown, but Mior is certain that CAAM will investigate the issue.

The families of Fajim and Din in Semenyih, Selangor, and Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, were notified of the incident.

A 41-year-old witness, who did not want to be named, told New Straits Times that during the time of the incident, he had left a nearby petrol station when he saw the plane flying too low and there was a loud sound coming from the aircraft as if it was running out of fuel.

"I immediately made a U-turn and followed the aircraft because I knew it would crash. A few seconds later, I saw the aircraft hit the lamp post and one of the wings broke off before it spun and crashed into the floodgate," the witness recounted.

He immediately dialled 999 and informed the authorities.

Fajim's aunt, who did not want to be named, told New Straits Times at the Forensic Unit of HRPB, that he survived the MiG-29 fighter that crashed due to engine problems in Ketengah Perwira plantation in Kemaman, Terengganu. He was safely ejected.

However, the incident did not stop him from flying because he loved it.

The aunt also added, "Fajim's father was also killed in a Nuri crash in Sungai Lunda, Sarawak on 8 December 1989."

The family would be worried about his safety when he flew, but they believed that he knew himself best.