SABAH Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan said more questions have arisen following the recent disclosure of the 1976 Double Six tragedy report.

Kitingan said the government must explain why it had kept the report classified for so long if there was no sabotage involved in the plane crash that  killed 11 people, including the then Sabah chief minister Fuad Stephens.

Putrajaya finally released the report last Wednesday, revealing no elements of sabotage or engine failure but had cast doubts on pilot Captain Gandhi J. Nathan’s skills and fitness to fly.

The report also said the probable cause of the crash was that the GAF Nomad aircraft had been overloaded in the aft, or rear, section.

Kitingan said the report had put the blame on the pilot.

“But the pilot has died, how is he going to answer or defend himself whether the report is accurate or not?

“We have waited for the report for so long. It has been more than 45 years. When it was released and declassified, they said there was no sabotage.

“But why wait for so long to release it? Is it because you are hiding something?” he was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times today.

Kitingan, who is also Keningau MP, said he wasn’t interested to speculate on the crash but wanted answers to some questions.

On the day of the crash, the then federal finance minister and Petronas chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was in Labuan with Fuad to discuss an oil and gas deal.

However, it was reported that Stephens had refused to sign the deal.

“Through Razaleigh’s sharing, he had said he sat with Stephens and the rest in the plane (bound for Kota Kinabalu from Labuan).

“Suddenly another person – (Berjaya leader) Harris Salleh – had asked Razaleigh to be on another aircraft to visit the cattle ranch (at Banggi island), but at that time the farm had not yet existed. Coincidentally, the then Sarawak chief minister Abdul Rahman Ya’kub was also brought to another plane.

“I don’t want to speculate, but those who survived had signed the oil agreement, which was equal to surrendering oil (rights) to Petronas.

“I also wish to ask why there was no respect given towards family members as they asked for signatures during the mourning period? Why could they not wait? The oil would not go anywhere,” said Kitingan.

The air crash killed Stephens, his son Johari and bodyguard Corporal Said Muhammad; local government and housing Peter Mojuntin, local government and housing minister Chong Thien Vun, finance minister Salleh Sulong and his permanent secretary Wahid Peter Andau; as well as Sabah’s economic planning unit director Dr Syed Hussein Wafa.

Also killed was Razaleigh’s private secretary Ishak Atan.

“I agree with Mojuntin’s (eldest son of Donald) opinion that the report disclosure raised more questions.

“I, too, have a lot of questions. But, who will answer it?” – April 17, 2023.