Kota Kinabalu: The Nomad 9M-ATZ crashed in shallow water approximately one mile short of the threshold of Runway 20 at Kota Kinabalu Airport at 3.42 pm.
The report said the aircraft was completely destroyed on impact although there was no explosion or fire and all 11 occupants, who included the Chief Minister of Sabah and other VIPs were killed.
A board of inquiry was convened on instructions from the Prime Minister of Malaysia and on Tuesday, 8th June, Messrs. D. R. Hooper and S. G. Pearce of G.A.F. accompanied by P. Chequenot and G. Sunderland of D.O.T. travelled to Kota Kinabalu to assist the accident investigation team. The Australian contingent arrived in Kota Kinabalu at noon on Wednesday, 9th June.
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At the time of the accident, it was engaged on a government charter flight fron Labuan to Kota Kinabalu. The aircraft was under Ghandi’s command and he was the only authorised crew member on board.
The report said the aircraft had been positioned at Labuan on 5th June and remained there overnight in preparation for a series of flights between Labuan and Kota Kinabalu which were to be carried out on the day of the accident.
“On the first flight on 6th June, the aircraft departed Labuan at 6.35am and arrived at Kota Kinabalu at 7.05am. It was refuelled (topped up to 1,000 lbs. this was normal practice for this type of operation) and departed for Labuan at 10.35am arriving there at 11.05am.
“The aircraft then made a second Labuan Kota Kinabalu round trip where it was again refuelled. These flights were apparently carried out in a normal routine manner and the pilot did not report any aircraft unserviceability which required attention by maintenance engineers. During the periods when the aircraft was on the ground at Labuan and Kota Kinabalu, Ghandi spoke to a number of acquaintances and told them that he was both tired and unwell as a result, he believed, of tainted food he had eaten the previous night at Labuan.
The Daily Express’ award winning team of journalists presents ‘Double Six: The Untold Stories’, a documentary on the plane crash in Sabah (East Malaysia) killing the newly-elected Chief Minister of Sabah Tun Mohd Fuad Stephens, four state ministers and six others on June 6th, 1976. After 46 years the findings of the crash also known to many as The Double Six Tragedy have not been disclosed. Note: This series unravels information not previously available to the public, but does not in any way attribute blame for the crash on any party.
