THE Sabah Air tragedy that took place on June 6, 1976 which claimed the lives of Tun Fuad Stephens and ten others was not an act of sabotage nor was it due to a fire or an explosion.
Such is the conclusion that the investigation team had made, and this was written in the final report of the then Civil Aviation Department chief inspector of accidents Omar Saman on Jan 25, 1977.
The report of the tragedy was recently declassified after 46 years, as promised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim under Section 2C of the Official Secrets Act 1972.
According to the tragedy report, the most probable cause of the accident – dubbed the Double Six Crash – was the plane’s centre of gravity being off balance.
As stated in the tragedy report, the main cause of the plane crash was that the pilot lost control during the landing process and that the plane’s centre of gravity at the time was lower than the allowed limit.
Just before taking off, the aircraft was maintained according to schedule, load limits were met, and the pilot held a valid license to fly.
As a matter of fact, there were no evidence of defects prior to the crash or malfunction of the aircraft, engine, or services.
However, the investigation team discovered that the company’s pilots’ operating procedures did not adhere to professional standards.
Failure to comply with operation manual
These include the fact that the flight plan involving dignitaries was not prepared as required by the operational manual while the amount of fuel was not included in the technical log book and the aircraft defect section was not approved in accordance with the recommended guidelines.
The investigation team made three recommendations, the first being that the requirement that any operator operating a public transportation service get all the necessary approvals to use a new type of aircraft before commencing operations.
“Flights in Sabah should be limited to the operation of aircraft and helicopters under 6,000 pounds maximum weight until the company’s operational and engineering procedures together with the management staff have been improved to the satisfaction of the Civil Aviation Department.
“Aeronautical Information Circulars need to be issued to all pilots and operators that emphasize the importance of complying with load, fuel, defect, weather and acceptance procedures before undertaking any flight,” the team said.
The report, which is accessible to everyone, disclosed the cause of the plane crash that killed Tun Fuad, who was sworn in as Sabah’s Chief Minister only 53 days ago.
A total of 11 people lost their lives in the Double Six tragedy, including senior Sabah government leaders at that time, namely Fuad (Sabah Chief Minister); Datuk Peter Joinod Mojuntin (Sabah Housing and Local Government Minister); Datuk Chong Thien Vun (Sabah Works and Communication Minister); and Datuk Salleh Sulong (Sabah Finance Minister).
Others who died in the air crash included Datuk Darius Binion (Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister); Datuk Wahid Peter Andau (Sabah Finance Ministry secretary); Dr Syed Hussein Wafa (Sabah Economic Planning Unit director); Ishak Atan (Malaysian Minister of Finance private secretary); Corporal Said Mohammad (Sabah Chief Minister’s bodyguard); Johari Fuad Stephens (Sabah Chief Minister’s son); and pilot Gandhi J Nathan. – April 13, 2023
Main pic credit: Daily Express
