KLANG: A family member has described the pilot who was involved in the plane crash at Elmina Township here as a happy, well-loved and competent person.
The victim's brother-in-law, Syed Tahir Syed Mohd, 39, said the deceased, Shahrul Kamal Roslan, referred as comel (cute) among his peers, was a cheerful, loving person who was liked by everyone.
“Arwah was a competent pilot, he previously served Malaysia Airlines and Etihad Airways.
“After the Covid-19 pandemic, he received a job offer," he said when met at the forensic department of the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) Klang here on Friday (Aug 18).
Syed Tahir said the family members of the crash victims were informed that the post-mortem will be carried out after the identification process has been completed.
"There are still some things to be done, including going through the DNA matching process, as well as retrieving the remaining parts of the body," he said.
Syed Tahir also said that the deceased had given his wife's phone number to a good friend named Halim a few days before the incident.
"Usually, he would not simply share his wife’s contact details, but maybe he had a bad feeling.
"Halim was the first person who contacted my sister and informed her of the incident that happened yesterday," he said.
Yesterday (Aug 17), 10 men were killed including two road users after a light plane crashed in the city promenade of Elmina, near the Guthrie Highway, at 2.50pm.
Pelangai assemblyman and Pahang exco member Datuk Seri Johari Harun was among those killed.
Separately, a childhood friend of Shahrul Kamal described the pilot as a "jovial and happy go lucky person".
Operations manager Nazir Hassan, 40, from Kuala Lumpur, said Shahrul Kamal, fondly known as Adek, always wore a smile on his face.
Nazir was a schoolmate of Shahrul Kamal at SMK Taman Melawati in Hulu Kelang, Gombak.
Unable to contain his sadness, Nazir was still in shock that his childhood friend had died tragically following the Elmina plane crash in Shah Alam.
“He is the manja (pampered) child of his mother. There are only two of them, an older brother and him.
“Since he was the younger one, he is called Adek. He loves to play football.
“I found out about his death from another pilot friend. We don’t really know what actually happened because he is a very experienced pilot,” he told The Star on Friday (Aug 18).
On Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge Facebook page, a tribute post for Shahrul Kamal, said he was an experienced pilot who flew commercially with Etihad Airways.
In the post, they said that the private jet crash has sent ripples of shock and sadness into the commercial aviation community.
“The Beechcraft Model 390 aircraft was under the command of an experienced pilot who has worked at three of the world's leading commercial airlines.
“Captain Shahrul Kamal Roslan, affectionately known as 'comel' had previously flown as a first officer for AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and most recently, Etihad.
“He moved into the private aviation sector after losing his position with Etihad during the pandemic,” the post said.
The post requested followers of the page to come in solidarity with Shahrul Kamal's family, friends and colleagues in dealing with the tragedy.
On the SMK Taman Melawati Alumni page, friends from his old school extended their condolences.
Those from the alumni expressed their shock and disbelief over his death.
Shahrul Kamal left behind his wife and four sons, aged between three and 12.
