High time this mystery is unwrapped

WHY would the report on a plane crash be classified?

For almost half a century, no one has known what exactly happened on June 6, 1976, to cause an aircraft on a flight from (what is now the Federal Territory of) Labuan to Kota Kinabalu International Airport to crash, killing 11 people, including Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and practically half his Cabinet.

It was one of the darkest moments in Sabah’s history, and unsurprisingly, people began speculating about the news almost from the moment they heard it.

The tragedy went “viral” in an analogue way, through (print and broadcast) media speculation, word of mouth, letters to the editor, office water cooler talk, even talks held to discuss it.

People had all sorts of theories to explain why the nose of the airplane suddenly dropped on its approach to the airport, before the craft spiralled into the ground.

Then the government of the day placed the final report on the crash under wraps.

This, of course, only further fuelled the conspiracy theories.

The Australian manufacturer of the N-22B Nomad turboprop plane belonging to Sabah Air launched its own investigation to prove that the crash was not caused by technical defects, taking more than four months to complete its findings – but that report, too, remains under lock and key, held in the National Archives of Australia, adding fuel to the conspiracy fires.

Theories ranged from the wild (UFOs, of course) to the politically-based, such as whether the crash was linked to the signing of the Petroleum Development Agreement with the Federal Government – the state had reportedly asked for 20% in royalties but was only offered 5%, the amount which was agreed upon later.

Adding to that type of speculation was the fact that among the dead (see box for full list of names) was Tun Fuad Stephens who had been sworn in as Sabah chief minister just 53 days earlier.

The family members of the 11 people who died in the crash are undoubtedly waiting anxiously for the Transport Ministry to release the report this coming week so they can find out how they came to lose their loved ones and, hopefully, find some closure.

The people of Malaysia also have a right to know what happened 46 years ago that wiped out what was deemed the political elite of a state.

So kudos to the Cabinet for declassifying this report. We await it eagerly.