The Beechcraft Bonanza N5045B light aircraft registered an emergency landing at kilometre 47.9 of the North-South Highway going south on 22nd November 2020, Sunday morning.
Kulai District Police Chief, Superintendent Tok Beng Yeow, said the private plane had been flown by its pilot, Dr Yang Kuang Ying, 52, with assistant Saleehullah Abdul Majid, 41, both Singaporeans.
He said they had been on a routine flight record to complete flight hours from Seletar Airport, Singapore to Batu Berendam Airport, Melaka. Unfortunately, engine damage forced the aircraft to land at 11:05 am during the second round of the flight to Singapore, he added.
“The findings of the pilot’s investigation indicate that they have received permission (no need to obtain a national or state border) to make a flight in order to obtain a normal flight time.
“They’re not in the training. This pilot is a trained pilot who has been in flight for 12 years and has 480 flight hours,” he said at a press conference at the Kulai District Police Headquarters on the same day of the incident.
Beng Yeow said that the aircraft was able to make a flight from Singapore to Melaka, and in the second round, they had to perform an emergency landing, at an altitude of 5,000 feet in the air, after the pilot found the engine was losing power.
The pilot then attempted to adjust the oil tank, but the engine of the aircraft did not operate and the oil pressure dropped rapidly.
“They had to make an emergency landing at the scene and both pilots survived without any injuries,” he said.
The case was handed over to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) for further investigation, according to Beng Yeow.
In the meantime, he said, however the incident did not create traffic congestion on the highway.
