2023 Elmina Beechcraft 390 crash
Jet Valet Beechcraft Model 390 (Model I) · Loss of control due to pilot error
From Langkawi International Airport (LGK) to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB)
Event
- NTSB case
- DCA23WA416
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 10 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 2
- Occupants
- 8
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0 serious · 0 minor (NTSB)
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Beechcraft Model 390 (Model I)
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft Model 390
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N28JV
- Operator
- Jet Valet
- Onboard fatalities
- 8
- Route
- From Langkawi International Airport (LGK)To Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB)
- Aircraft age
- About 19 years (built 2004)
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 17 August 2023, a Beechcraft 390 Premier I business jet crashed onto an expressway interchange near Elmina in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia, killing 10 people. The aircraft was travelling from Langkawi International Airport to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport when it crashed two minutes prior to landing.
Background
The aircraft was a Beechcraft 390 Premier I built in 2004 and was first registered as G-FRYL in the United Kingdom. In May 2023, the aircraft entered service with Jet Valet, a private flight service based in Kuala Lumpur, and was given a new registration of N28JV.
The aircraft carried six passengers and two pilots. The pilots were 41-year-old Captain Shahrul Kamal Roslan and 44-year-old First Officer Heikal Aras Abdul Azim. Captain Shahrul Kamal had just over 6,275 hours of flight time, including less than 37 hours on the type of aircraft involved in the accident, while First Officer Heikal Aras had 9,298 hours of flight time, including just over 3 hours on the Beechcraft 390 Premier I aircraft.
Among the passengers was Johari Harun, a member of the Pahang State Executive Council and a member of the Pahang State Legislative Assembly for Pelangai.
Captain Shahrul Kamal previously worked for Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia while First Officer Heikal Aras Abdul Azim was a former pilot at the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Flight
The aircraft took off from Langkawi International Airport en route to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at 2:08 pm MYT (06:08 UTC). At 2:47 pm, the aircraft made contact with the destination airport's air traffic control (ATC). A minute later, the ATC gave clearance for landing. However, at 2:51 pm, it sighted smoke plumes along the aircraft's flight path.
Eyewitnesses reported erratic flying movements from the aircraft before the crash. The aircraft banked to the right before descending sharply to the ground, exploding upon impact near the Elmina interchange of the Guthrie Corridor Expressway. The explosion killed a motorist, while a motorcyclist caught on fire and died after attempts to extinguish the flames failed.
The aircraft struck the road surface at high speeds wing-first, quickly followed by the nose. It was completely destroyed on impact and engulfed by the post-crash fire. Momentum carried the aircraft wreckage forward; the main debris was located 73 m away from the initial impact zone. Additional wreckage and an occupant's body was found 100 m from the point of impact.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The AAIB found that the aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder, which is not uncommon among light aircraft of this type. The aircraft had veered off its original flight path prior to its fall, following the ATC's clearance for landing.
Police recorded statements from the owners of vehicles that were equipped with dashcams. A forensics unit was sent to gather evidence.
A preliminary accident report was released on 15 September 2023 by the Ministry of Transport. It stated the aircraft had a valid airworthiness certificate and maintained in accordance with regulations. Both pilots were described as certified to operate the flight. There was also no indication of incapacitation or physiological factors that impact the crews' behavior. Data from the cockpit voice recorder was successfully extracted but the transcript was not released. The report added that the early analysis of the data "has provided critical leads to uncovering the cause of the accident, with a focus on the aircraft flight control systems." The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the American aircraft component manufacturer also conducted an inspection and evaluation.
The final report was released on 16 August 2024. Investigators cited pilot error as the main cause of the crash, in which the pilots inadvertently deployed the aircraft's lift dump spoilers, resulting in a sudden loss of lift. The report also concluded that the pilots were in the wrong seats, with inadequate training and communication also being contributing factors to the crash.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2023 Elmina Beechcraft 390 crash” (revision 1374504784, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2023 Elmina Beechcraft 390 crash
- Revision
- 1374504784 · 2026-09-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q121546295
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record DCA23WA416
- Event ID
- 20230817192894
- Case number
- DCA23WA416
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2023 Elmina Beechcraft 390 crash" (page 74611516, revision 1374504784); merged with NTSB case DCA23WA416 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record DCA23WA416
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A business jet operated by a private flight service carrying six passengers: an on-demand air taxi flight. The article: "the aircraft entered service with Jet Valet, a private flight service based in Kuala Lumpur"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "2023 Elmina Beechcraft 390 crash" and NTSB case DCA23WA416, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.