A DECLASSIFIED report made public today revealed no evidence of sabotage in the tragic plane crash that killed Sabah chief minister Fuad Stephens and other state leaders in 1976.

The final investigation report on the flight crash, dubbed “Double Six”, signed by then accidents chief inspector and Civil Aviation Department flight operations director Omar Saman, concluded the probable cause of the crash was a centre of gravity (CG) position well outside the aft limit.

The aft CG limit is the rearwardmost position at which the CG can be located for the most critical manoeuvre or operation. As the CG moves aft, the craft becomes less stable, decreasing its ability to right itself after manoeuvring or turbulence.

The report said this caused the control column to run out of forward range as the nose pitched up when the flaps were lowered through 25º on the final approach to land.

“The pilot lost control of the aircraft when he ran out of forward control column range as the flaps were lowered through 25º on the approach to land due to the centre of gravity position, which was well aft of the approved rear limit,” the report said.

It said there was no evidence of sabotage, fire or explosion. The full report can be read here.

Apart from Fuad, others who died in the crash were ministers Peter Mojuntin Salleh Sulong and Chong Thien Vun, assistant minister Darius Binion, state Finance Ministry permanent secretary Wahid Peter Andau, Fuad’s bodyguard Said Mohammad, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s private secretary Isak Atan, pilot Gandhi Nathan, and Fuad’s son Johari Stephens.

The report, however, found the operating procedure for the company’s (Sabah Air) pilots was not of professional standard.

The investigation showed several requirements were not fulfilled. Among them were: the load sheet had not been prepared, the passenger manifest was not completed, no Instrument Flight Rules plan was filed as required by the operations manual for VVIP flights, the fuel load figure had not been entered in the technical log, and the technical log defects sections had not been cleared in accordance with recommended practices.

“Throughout the enquiry, it became clear the operating procedure by the company pilots had become quite casual and was certainly not of professional standard,” the report said. 

The report said the pilot of the Australian-made Nomad 9M-ATZ aircraft operated by Sabah Air, who flew the group from Labuan, had exceeded his duty time and, by rights, should not have operated his last flight. 

“On the day of the accident, the pilot had flown successfully from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu twice, starting the first trip at 0635 hours local time. 

“It is evident that in order to take off at 0635 hours, he (the pilot) must have been up by 0530 hours at the latest. 

“As he took off at 0635 hours and suffered the fatal accident at 1542 hours, he had been on duty for an official period of 11 hours and 7 Minutes. This is in excess of the company duty period of 10 hours. He had exceeded (the maximum) duty time by 67 minutes.

“One example of an area the company (Sabah Air) should have monitored is its crew rest period.

“Had this been recorded properly by the company, the pilot would not have been required to carry out the last flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu,” the report said.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who released the final report today, expressed his condolences to the Double Six victims’ families.

He said the ministry must investigate all aviation-related incidents transparently and comprehensively to instil international trust in Malaysia’s ability to build a credible aviation industry of the highest standard.

Last week, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the report of the Double Six crash would be declassified and made public. He said the findings should not be kept hidden, especially from those affected by the incident.

The report was held under the Official Secrets Act 1972 for 47 years. – April 12, 2023.