PETALING JAYA: The son of one of the victims in the fatal 1976 plane crash in Sabah has asked why the authorities did not look into the “failures in the flying control systems” as revealed by a newly-declassified report by the aircraft’s Australian manufacturer.
Donald Peter Mojuntin was referring to a report by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia released on Wednesday, which revealed 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 told FMT.
The incident, better known as the “Double Six tragedy”, claimed the lives of then Sabah chief minister Fuad Stephens and 10 others, including the then housing and local government minister Peter Mojuntin, after the aircraft crashed in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu.
Following the incident, the GAF Nomad aircraft manufacturer and Australia’s department of transport launched an investigation to prove that the crash was not due to mechanical issues.
According to the report, the investigation team, GAF and the department of transport completed a preliminary report for the responsible federal minister to present at a Cabinet meeting.
However, following the Cabinet meeting, the minister declined to issue a press release but agreed that GAF could advise its customers and operators that as a result of the investigation, the structural integrity of the aircraft was assured.
The Australian personnel were also not authorised to make public any of the findings of the board of inquiry.
Donald, a former Penampang MP, said the decision to keep the preliminary findings under lock and key was another “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 Upko deputy president added.
Previously, Donald said the report on the fatal plane crash, which the government declassified recently, had left the next of kin of victims with more questions than answers.
The report found no evidence of sabotage, fire or an explosion, but stated that the probable cause of the crash was “a centre of gravity position well outside the aft limit, which caused the control column to run out of forward range on the final approach to land”.
It also concluded that there were no signs of any pre-crash defect or malfunction on the aircraft or its engines. - FMT
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