Govt to declassify report on Double Six plane crash
Published on: Wednesday, April 05, 2023
By:
FMT, Ainin Wan Salleh
Sabah’s then chief minister Fuad Stephens and 10 others were killed after the GAF Nomad aircraft they were in crashed in Sembulan.
PETALING JAYA: The government has agreed to declassify the report into a 1976 plane crash that claimed the lives of then Sabah chief minister Fuad Stephens and 10 others, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
At a press conference today, Anwar said the transport ministry will be releasing the report, adding that this was in line with the unity government’s principle of transparency.
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“We feel like we owe it to the people, more so the people of Sabah, to (declassify the report).
“I don’t believe that findings like these, which are factual and of state and public concern, should be kept under the OSA,” he said, referring to the Official Secrets Act.
Last month, the Kota Kinabalu High Court ordered Putrajaya to declassify the report into the plane crash, popularly known as the “Double Six tragedy”.
Justice Christopher Chin issued an order to compel the government to make public the documents on the crash and gave Putrajaya until June 8 to comply.
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The ruling by Chin was for a lawsuit filed by former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh.
In the incident on June 6, 1976, Fuad, who had been sworn in as chief minister just 53 days earlier, died along with 10 others, including state ministers, when the GAF Nomad aircraft they were in crashed in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu.
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The others who died included state ministers Salleh Sulong, Chong Thien Vun and Peter Mojuntin.
Following the incident, the Australian GAF Nomad manufacturer and the Australian Department of Transport launched an investigation to prove that the crash was not due to mechanical issues.
The investigation was completed some four months later, but the full report was not made public. Instead, it was classified under the OSA.
Watch Daily Express' feature length documentary on the Double Six Tragedy here:
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