THE son of one of the victims of the fatal 1976 plane crash in Sabah has questioned why the authorities did not look into the “failures in the flying control systems” as indicated in a newly-declassified report from the aircraft’s Australian manufacturer.
Datuk Donald Peter Mojuntin was responding to a report released on Wednesday by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia, which stated that “failures were found in the flying control systems during wreckage examination, loading calculations, and operational and handling considerations”.
“What does this mean and what caused these ‘failures’? Why was this not mentioned in the Malaysian investigation report? Was this important fact not investigated further by the Malaysian authorities?” he was quoted as saying by FMT.
The incident, better known as the “Double Six tragedy”, took the lives of then-Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and ten others, including then-Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Peter Mojuntin, after the plane crashed in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu.
Following the tragedy, the GAF Nomad aircraft manufacturer and Australia’s transport authorities had launched an investigation in order to confirm that the crash was not caused by mechanical issues.
According to the report, the investigation team, GAF and the department of transport put together a preliminary report for the responsible federal minister to be presented at a Cabinet meeting.
However, following the Cabinet discussion, the minister declined to publish a press statement but agreed that GAF could inform its customers and operators that the structural integrity of the aircraft had been confirmed as a consequence of the investigation.
The Australian personnel were also not entitled to make any of the board of inquiry’s findings public.
Donald, a former Penampang MP, described the decision to keep the early findings under wraps a “red flag.”
“Why not make it public? Again, more questions than answers. Truth be told, at this moment I feel a great injustice has been done,” the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) deputy president added.
Previously, Donald stated that the report on the deadly plane crash, which the government had declassified, had left the victims’ next of kin with more questions than answers.
The findings of the investigation found no evidence of sabotage, fire, or explosion, but stated that the likely cause of the crash was “a centre of gravity position well outside the aft limit, causing the control column to run out of forward range on the final approach to land.”
It also found no evidence of any pre-crash flaw or malfunction on the aircraft or its engines. – April 28, 2023
Main pic credit: Utusan Malaysia
