‘Australia’s Double Six crash report doesn’t make sense’

KOTA KINABALU: The declassified Double Six crash report released by the Australian authorities does not make sense, says a retired pilot.

Captain Naru Kiob, a former chief pilot with Sabah Air, said the report was lopsided as it put the blame on human error, especially the late pilot Capt Gandhi Nathan.

He said the information revealed in the report, which, among other things, stated that the Sabah Air plane was flying illegally, did not make sense.

“How could it be flying illegally when they had and were operating two Boeing 707s and two Grumman G-IIs at that time?” he asked.

Capt Kiob, however, refused to comment further but merely “agreed to disagree with the report”.

Captain Nizam Ghandi Nathan, the son of Captain Gandhi and also a retired pilot, when asked about the report, said, “No comment.”

Former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee said views from lawyers and aviation experts must be taken into account before any reactions could be made.

“I have yet to study the Australian report, but I believe it is more detailed than the Malaysian report.

“I need to get a better understanding of the whole document first,” he said, adding that both reports would need to disclose unanswered questions for the full closure of the painful chapter of the Double Six tragedy.

On June 6, 1976, the crash killed 11 people, including the then chief minister, Tun Fuad Stephens.

The pilot was accused by Australia’s investigating team of “having poor ability” and being a subpar pilot, among other things.It also accused the pilot of having overloaded the plane, information that also ties in with Malaysia’s findings.

The Australian report also revealed that another Sabah Air pilot left the plane to make way for Fuad’s son, Johari, who then sat in the co-pilot’s seat.

It also ruled out the possibility that the aircraft flaps were defective.