KUALA LUMPUR: "The irony of it all.. his favourite television show was Air Crash Investigation," said a close friend in a post for Shahrul Kamal Roslan, the pilot in command of the flight that crashed near Elmina yesterday.
In a Facebook post, Azlin M Noor who is a close friend of Shahrul since their secondary school days at SMK Taman Melawati, said the 41-year-old always had a passion to become a pilot.
"He studied architecture and even was listed as the best student for a subject particularly about software that architects used. He studied at Lim Kok Wing but dropped out as he wanted to become a pilot.
"Every day he talked about being a pilot. Even before he joined the academy, he read books about piloting. He even ordered his own headphones before he even joined the academy.
"Too many memories, eyes hurting now..," she said referring to memories with Shahrul.
She said Shahrul, whom she called 'Adek' was more than just a pilot.
For those who knew him at the school, he was their 'abang kawasan' (big brother).
"For us Melawatians, he was our abang kawasan. He took care of us 'adik-adik' at Melawati though his name was 'Adek'..
"(He was) also the best footballer... he even got an award for it at the district school meet if I'm not mistaken.. He was legendary both in and out of Melawati," she said.
Shahrul, along with Heikal Aras Abdul Azim was flying a Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) en route from Langkawi to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.
It crashed in the Elmina township in Shah Alam two minutes before it was scheduled to land.
There were six passengers on board. Datuk Seri Johari Harun, 53, who was the assemblyman for the Pelangi state constituency in Pahang, as well as the state Local Government, Housing, Environment and Green technology exco member.
Also on the flight was his personal assistant, 41-year-old Idris Abdol Talib @ Ramali.
The other passengers were Kharil Azwan Jamaludin, 43; Shaharul Amir Omar, 49; Mohamad Naim Fawwaz Mohamed Muaidi, 35; and Muhammad Taufiq Mohd Zaki, 37.