At least 10 people were killed after a small private jet crashed into a motorcycle and a car while attempting to land at an airport in the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, officials informed on Thursday.
A Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) aircraft, a light private business jet carrying six passengers and two crew members crashed near Elmina township at 2.08 pm, just before landing, said Hussein Omar Khan, the Selangor police chief.
He said that the aircraft lost contact with the air traffic control tower and crashed into a motorcycle and a car on the highway. “There was no emergency call, the aircraft had been given clearance to land,” said Hussein Omar.
A search and rescue mission is underway.
Meanwhile, the country’s civil aviation authority (CAAM) said that the flight had departed from the holiday island of Langkawi and was headed to Selangor’s Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport near Kuala Lumpur.
CAAM chief executive Norazman Mahmud said that the aircraft made first contact with Subang Air Traffic Control Tower at 2.47 pm and landing clearance was given at 2.48 pm.
He said in a statement, “At 2.51 p.m., the Subang Air Traffic Control Tower observed smoke originating from the crash site but no mayday call was made by the aircraft.”
The CAAM said that the flight was operated by Jet Valet Sdn Bhd, a private jet service company in Malaysia.
Jet Valet did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters, however, local media cited that the company said it will cooperate with authorities on the investigation.
