The Double Six Crash, also known as the Double Six Tragedy (referring to 6 June), was a crash, involving a
GAF N-22B Nomad of
Sabah Air, which took place on 6 June 1976 at
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...
, Malaysia, killing several local political leaders, including two top leaders - Tun
Fuad Stephens
Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 1st and 5th Chief Minister of Sabah from September 1963 to December 1964 and again briefly from ...
and Datuk
Peter Mojuntin.
Background
Tun Fuad Stephens came to power during the 1976 Sabah state elections which were held from 5 April to 14 April 1976. His
BERJAYA party won 28 of the 48 seats contested, defeating the previous governing party
United Sabah National Organisation
The United Sabah National Organisation (; abbreviation, abbrev: USNO) was a political party in Crown Colony of North Borneo, North Borneo and later Sabah, Malaysia. The widely known Sabah's Muslim Orang Asal, indigenous especially Tausūg peopl ...
(USNO) led by
Tun Mustapha. Tun Fuad was sworn in as the 5th chief minister of Sabah on 15 April 1976.
On the 53rd day after he won the elections, the aircraft he boarded crashed on the way to Kota Kinabalu Airport.
[Alt URL]
Released online sinc
7 March 2013
courtesy of Chaos Computer Club
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest association of Hacker (computer security), hackers with 7,700 registered members. Founded in 1981, the association is incorporated as an ''eingetragener Verein'' in Germany, with local chapters ...
Berlin.
In the evening of 5 June 1976 (Saturday), Tun Fuad with his brother Benedict Stephens (often known as Ben) and other BERJAYA leaders gathered at
Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
Golf Club to host a post-victory celebration for Tun Fuad's old friend,
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician who served as the Dewan Rakyat, Member of Parliament (MP) for Gu ...
. Tengku Razaleigh was the federal finance minister and also a chairman of
Petronas
Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...
, a Malaysian oil and gas company.
Tun Mustapha, former chief minister of Sabah, had previously refused to sign the 5% oil agreement with
Petronas
Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...
. Tun Fuad, Tengku Razaleigh, and other BERJAYA leaders had a "good chat" until 6:00 am next morning. Then, Tun Fuad and his brother went to
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...
in order to flag-off a charity walkathon held in the morning.
[ Datuk Peter Mojuntin, another BERJAYA leader, decided to stay at Labuan in order to officiate at a BERJAYA party branch's victory celebrations.][
Tun Fuad met his eldest son Johari Stephens at the walkathon. Tun Fuad insisted that his eldest son Johari should follow him to Labuan in order to visit the official opening of RM 100 million oil refinery.] However, Tun Fuad and his son never made the trip to the refinery because of their own busy schedule. Tun Fuad then went back to Labuan Golf Club in order to meet Tengku Razaleigh.[
Tun Fuad and Tengku Razaleigh had a lunch at a beach near a village called Layang-Layang. After that, they decided to return to Kota Kinabalu earlier for the preparation of an official banquet at Istana Negeri (State Palace) at night where Tengku Razaleigh and Tun Fuad were to sign the Petronas deal.][ However, other sources claimed that Tun Fuad disagreed with 10% oil royalty offered by the federal government, instead opting for 20% oil royalty. Conrad Mojuntin, brother of Peter Mojuntin, who was also a former assemblyman for Moyog, claimed that Tun Fuad would never have agreed to the 5%. However, Harris Salleh, in an interview with the Sabah newspaper Daily Express, stated that "Tun Fuad 100 percent supported the arrangement by Parliament. He supported the law, supported the agreement. No difference. He was ready to sign, to cooperate. Because to him, no matter what arrangement you made with the Federal Government, it would be the same thing."
At 3:00 pm, Tun Fuad, Tengku Razaleigh, and other BERJAYA leaders boarded the government-chartered, twin engine, ten-seater Australian ]Nomad
Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
aircraft owned by Sabah Air.[ Peter Mojuntin was among those aboard.][ Peter originally planned to board the ]Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia Airlines ( Malay: ''Penerbangan Malaysia'') is the flag carrier of Malaysia, headquartered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The airline flies to destinations across Europe, Oceania and Asia from its main hub at Kuala Lumpur Int ...
(MAS) flight back to Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...
at 1:30 pm scheduled on the same day.[ However, Peter was persuaded by Tun Fuad to fly back to Kota Kinabalu with him because Tun Fuad wanted to discuss some matter with Peter on board the flight.][ Peter also cancelled the MAS flight and declined an invitation to travel in another GAF Nomad aircraft that were seated with another BERJAYA leader Datuk ]Harris Salleh
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Harris bin Mohd Salleh (born 4 November 1930) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Sabah from June 1976 to April 1985. During his tenure, he ceded the island of Labuan, which used to be part of ...
and Sarawak chief minister Abdul Rahman Ya'kub.[ In April 2010, Tengku Razaleigh claimed that he was seated behind Tun Fuad while Abdul Rahman Ya'kub was seated on Tengku's right side in the Nomad aircraft when Harris Salleh came in last minute and asked Tengku to exit the aircraft in order to inspect a cattle ranch at Banggi Island. Tengku agreed and he invited Abdul Rahman to follow him.][ Ishak Atan, the private secretary to Tengku Razaleigh, decided to stay back with Tun Fuad's aircraft because he wanted to prepare the documents for the signing ceremony in Kota Kinabalu. Tun Fuad's aircraft took off first followed by Harris's aircraft.][ Tun Fuad's aircraft also carried heavy goods from the duty-free port of Labuan such as golf equipment and colour television sets. Nomad aircraft were not fitted with flight data recorders to record all its course changes and altitudes at that time.][
However, Tengku Razaleigh gave a different account of the last minute events in the book titled "The Sabahan: The Life and Death of Tun Fuad Stephens" which was published back in 1999. Tengku claimed that he met ]Harris Salleh
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Harris bin Mohd Salleh (born 4 November 1930) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Sabah from June 1976 to April 1985. During his tenure, he ceded the island of Labuan, which used to be part of ...
at the beach near the Layang-Layang village when the latter asked him to go to Banggi Island to inspect a cattle ranch. Tengku Razaleigh agreed and went to the Labuan airport. Tengku then climbed into the Tun Fuad's aircraft and asked Abdul Rahman to accompany him to Banggi Island.[
According to Borneo Bulletin newspaper published on 12 June 1976, Tun Fuad's son, Johari Stephens (a 24-year-old trainee pilot) asked if he could ride the aircraft in the co-pilot seat. The request was granted and the aircraft took off from Labuan. The flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu usually takes around 40 minutes. Tun Fuad's aircraft should have landed at 3:30 pm at the Kota Kinabalu Airport. The weather was good and the VIP aircraft should have received immediate clearance for landing. However, the aircraft circled and approached the airport from the north. It was claimed that the ground control tower instructed the aircraft to make another turn because of an inbound Malaysia Airlines ]Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
flight to the airport. An airport official claimed that there were conflicting instructions from the ground control tower.[
]
Crash
George Jomiton Mojuntin (October 19, 1932March 11, 1983), the eldest son of the Mojuntin family, was one of the eyewitnesses of the crash. He and his friends were playing golf nearby at the Kinabalu Golf Club in Tanjung Aru when the aircraft crashed into the South China Sea while it was trying to land at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The aircraft's altitude was at 600 feet, flying at 86 knots and approaching the runway from the north when it seemed to stall mid-air with one wing dipping down and the aircraft spiraling one and a half turns into shallow waters just three feet deep. It was 3:41 pm and 27 seconds.[ The residents of Kampung Sembulan Baru reported that they heard an explosion at about 3:30 pm. On rushing out from their homes, they saw the aircraft broken into two, with the cockpit embedded about three feet into a sandbank.][ Other parts of the aircraft were embedded in the shallow water while part of it was exposed above water. According to The Far Eastern Economic Review the aircraft had appeared to be veering from side to side before it went into a spiral and crashed.][
The aircraft was a total wreck. Blood was seeping from the wrecked aircraft and stained the surrounding water crimson. The crash scene was just 50 feet from the nearest houses of the village of Kampung Sembulan Baru which the aircraft had just flown over][ and 3 km from the airport.] Tun Fuad's brother Ben Stephens and Police Commissioner Yusof Khan were among the earliest to arrive at the scene. The Police Commissioner cut open the aircraft.[ Among the first items found floating at the crash scene were Tun Fuad's white shoes.][ Ben Stephens and the Police Commissioner managed to pull out the remains of Corporal Said, Tun Fuad's bodyguard, who had been seated at the back of the aircraft.][ Police Commissioner Yusof Khan recalled:
All the bodies were converged in the cockpit area except for one that was still strapped into position by a seat belt. The cockpit was buried into the ground. Captain Nathan was found in the pilot's seat while Johari Stephens (Tun Fuad's son) was found in the co-pilot's seat. All the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition except for Peter Mojuntin, whose face remained intact. A severed head was found located at a distance from the body. One eyewitness described the condition of the deceased as "bodies turned to jelly with practically every bone in their bodies broken or smashed".][
Firemen were the first to arrive at the scene. Police arrived soon after and sealed off the area. Axes had to be used to cut open the aircraft and 11 bodies were removed. Two revolvers, five watches and RM 6,000 in cash were also recovered.
All the remains were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for reconstruction. Doctors worked for more than 6 hours to stitch up the body parts.][ Ben Stephens and Tengku Razaleigh then arrived at the mortuary for formal identification of the bodies.][
]
Passengers and crew
The crash killed all 11 on board the flight, including five ministers,[
* Tun Fuad Stephens, Chief Minister of ]Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
[
* Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Sabah Minister of Local Government and Housing][
* Datuk Chong Thien Vun, Sabah communications and public works minister
* Datuk Salleh Sulong, Sabah finance minister
* Datuk Darius Binion, deputy chief minister's assistant
* Datuk Wahid Peter Andu, Sabah finance minister's permanent secretary
* Dr Syed Hussein Wafa, Sabah's economic planning unit director
* Ishak Atan, Malaysia's finance minister's private secretary
* Corporal Said Mohammad, Tun Fuad's bodyguard
* Johari Fuad Stephens, Tun Fuad's son
* Gandhi J. Nathan, pilot
]
Subsequent events
The aircraft crash created a vacuum in BERJAYA party leadership. It also created five vacant Sabah state assembly seats where by-elections would be held on 31 July 1976 with nomination day on 15 July. On 21 June 1976, Barisan Nasional accepted the applications from BERJAYA and USNO to join the coalition. USNO had agreed not to contest in the by-elections, leaving BERJAYA to face the competitions by candidates representing independents as well as rival parties namely the Sabah Chinese Association (SCA), BERSATU and PEKEMAS. Tun Fuad's untimely death made his wife Rahimah Stephens widowed prematurely and 4 surviving children who were still studying in Australia at that time fatherless, for he was also survived by his 78-year old elderly widowed mother, Edith Cope-Stephens (born 1898), who outlived him by a few months.[ The federal and state governments then immediately launched a full-scale investigation on the cause of the aircraft crash. The investigation team was led by Colonel Osman Saman,][ consisting of officers from the Civil Aviation Department, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the Royal Malaysian Police and other associated departments. Government sources at that time mentioned that it was abnormal for the aircraft to take a spin before crashing into the sea. Therefore, foul play was suspected and the aircraft could have been tampered with before it took off from Labuan airport.][
At 6:00 pm on the same day, the then-deputy chief minister of Sabah, Datuk Harris Salleh, choking with emotions, broke the sad news to the nation. He said that:][
Harris was still grieving and was reluctant to assume the post of chief minister. However, after Tengku Razaleigh's persuasions,][ Harris was sworn in as the sixth chief minister of Sabah just before midnight on the same day in accordance with the provisions of the state's constitution as well as order of succession to the leadership.]
Government insisted on state funerals for the dead state leaders. However, problems arose because the deceased leaders were of different religions, including that of Tun Fuad, who himself was Muslim (along with Datuk Salleh Sulong, his son Johari, State Finance Ministry permanent secretary, Datuk Wahid Peter Andu, Dr Syed Hussin Wafa, Ishak Atan and Corporal Said Mohammad), whilst Datuk Peter Mojuntin and Datuk Darius Binion were both Catholics, others such as Datuk Chong Thien Vun was an Anglican. It was later decided that all the state leaders' coffins will be gathered inside the Kota Kinabalu Community Centre. After that, the leaders' coffins will left the building in a single file and break off in different directions to various cemeteries.[ Peter Mojuntin's body was carried back to his home at Kampung Hungab, Penampang. Peter's body was later escorted to the community centre.][ Tun Fuad's body was also sent to the same community centre.][ Peter's body was later brought to St Michael's church, Donggongon for the last rites at 2:45 pm. A ]Requiem
A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
mass was held. After the mass, Peter's coffin was opened for the last time for the public (whilst Datuk Darius' remains was brought to his home village of Kampung Navahiu, Putatan, Penampang and later the nearby Holy Nativity Church, located in Kampung Terawi, Putatan, also in Penampang for requiem mass, which was then an outstation parish church of St. Michael's, today it is a parish of its own right since 2011 in the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu within the Penampang district, dedicated by Archbishop Datuk John Lee at that time). Their respective coffins were buried later on the same day (Peter was buried in St. Michael's churchyard, whilst Darius was buried possibly either in the village cemetery of Kampung Navahiu or at the St. Joseph's Benevolent Fund Catholic Cemetery in Kampung Dontozidon off Old Penampang Road).[ Tun Fuad's body was later buried at the Sabah state mosque.][ A public holiday was declared on 7 June 1976 and flags were flown at half mast by the state and federal government departments as well as in commercial premises and private houses.][
One week later on 14 June 1976, Harris Salleh signed the 5% oil royalty agreement.][ Harris said that he signed the 5% oil agreement on attorney-general's recommendations and agreements by all of his cabinet ministers. Besides, the chief minister from the neighbouring state of Sarawak Abdul Rahman Ya'kub had also signed the agreement after an extensive discussion with Tengku Razaleigh. However, Harris was unsure whether the quantum of 5% was determined by law or by the Malaysian parliament or the federal government.
Harris also delivered a eulogy in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly:
Harris later admitted that he found himself being pushed around by the federal government and he was too young to stand up against its demands. However, if Tun Fuad was still alive, he may have been able to stand up against it because he was more senior and had the respect of the federal government.][
]
Investigation results
Australian GAF Nomad aircraft manufacturer decided to launch an investigation in order to prove that the crash was not due to a mechanical defect.[ The company sent its chief pilot, Stuart Pearce, and chief designer David Hooper, to investigate the crash. They were also accompanied by two Australian Department of Transport Officials. The Australian Department of Transport had previously issued the aircraft's certificate of fitness.][ On 28 October 1976, 4.5 months after the tragedy, the investigations were over. The full investigation findings were not immediately made public. Deputy Communications Minister, Enche Mohd Ali bin M Sharif instead made a statement about the investigation findings:
On 22 June 1976, ]Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
announced the findings from the GAF investigations, which determined that the cause of the accident was due to pilot error; however, additional details was not released by them. The Australian investigation report remained classified since then. The report titled "G. Bennett - Sabah Air Nomad - Report by Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) investigation team on a crash of Nomad aircraft in Malaysia 9M - ATZ on 6 June 1976" was hosted at National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that is the National archives, official repository for all federal government documents. It ...
under Series no: B5535 and restriction number of 33(1)(a) because "Malaysia has not as yet publicly released their final and full report of the investigation".[ In 2017, the Sabah ]Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...
chief minister Musa Aman
Musa bin Aman (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 11th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah since January 2025. He served as the 14th Chief Minister of Sabah from M ...
, in a question-and-answer session in the state assembly, said that the reports are still classified because "Sabah Civil Aviation Department has no new information on the crash". In 2019, the Pakatan Harapan
Pakatan Harapan (PH; stylised as HARAPAN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has led ...
chief minister Shafie Apdal
Mohd Shafie bin Apdal (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: محمد شافعي بن أفضل; born 20 October 1957) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Semporna (federal constituency), Semporna since ...
left the decision to declassify the report to relevant authorities.
On 11 July 2022, former Chief Minister of Sabah Harris Salleh
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Harris bin Mohd Salleh (born 4 November 1930) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Sabah from June 1976 to April 1985. During his tenure, he ceded the island of Labuan, which used to be part of ...
filed a judicial review to declassify the Malaysian investigation report, citing Articles 8 and 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia (), which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 art ...
and Section 2C of the Official Secrets Act 1972. On 8 March 2023, the High Court of Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...
ordered the federal government to declassify the final investigations report of the plane crash in three months. Initially, the Attorney General's Chamber (AGC) filed an appeal; however Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim (; born 10 August 1947), also known by his abbreviation as DSAI and PMX, is a Malaysian politician who is the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. A member of the People's Justice Party (Malaysia), People's Justice P ...
later announced on 5 April that the federal government had agreed to declassify the final investigation report. He further added that the Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
(MOF) would be tasked to release the report. He explained the decision was based on the "interests of the families of the victims and the people of Sabah". The investigation report was finally released on 12 April 2023, 47 years after its creation.
The report revealed that the center of gravity was at the back of the plane due to heavy weights and that the pilot probably failed to recover the plane from the stall due to fatigue
Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a signs and symptoms, symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself.
Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated wit ...
(tiredness or exhaustion).
Harris also filed a request to National Archives of Australia in May 2022 to declassify the B5535 report through a law firm named Messr Jayasuriya Kah & Co. On 24 April 2023, Australia's Administrative Appeals Tribunal agreed to release the report to the law firm. The report was released on 26 April 2023, which supports the findings of the Malaysian investigation report.
Causes
Aircraft overloading – If the Nomad aircraft is not operated within strict weight limit, it will behave unpredictably when the speed is low, especially when the aircraft is landing. This fact had not been mentioned in the flight manual during the time when Double Six Crash occurred. Since the aircraft was carrying heavy goods when it was landing at the Kota Kinabalu Airport at a low altitude (600 feet), the pilot would not have to time to respond and maneuver the aircraft out from the spin and perform an emergency landing
An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
.[ The tail of the aircraft contained 147.4 kg of goods, which exceeded the maximum allowed weight of 87.8 kg; although the overall weight of the plane was less than the maximum allowed weight of 197.3 kg.]
Pilot error – Captain Nathan may have allowed the eldest son of Tun Fuad, Johari Stephen, who was also a trainee pilot, to control the aircraft. This was suspected because Johari's body was found in the co-pilot seat. The aircraft may have gone into a spin when Johari tried to pull the heavily loaded aircraft too steeply out of his landing approach. However, the opposite is equally likely. Captain Nathan, with many years of flying experience, could easily pull the aircraft out of a spin and save the aircraft from a deadly crash.[ However, in 2004, both Toh Puan Hajjah Rahimah Stephens (wife of Tun Fuad) and Datuk Harris Salleh agreed that "pilot error" was the main cause of the crash.] Captain Nathan had a valid flying license for this type of aircraft, but had a history of poor training record. For example, the captain did not follow standard operating procedures for VVIP before flying the aircraft. Besides, his flying logbook was poorly maintained. The company, Sabah Air, did not strictly enforce aircraft operating procedures on its pilots. The newly formed Sabah Air company was operating "illegally" in technical terms because its draft of the operation manual was not yet approved by the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department at that time.
Four Corners TV series exposé
Design flaw of the aircraft – This is the second Nomad aircraft crash following the first crash on 3 October 1973 when the aircraft was leased to Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
(RAAF) as A18-002 in July 1973.[ The 3rd Nomad aircraft crash occurred on 6 August 1976 during a test flight at Avalon Airport, Australia, exactly 2 months after the Malaysian Double Six Crash.][ In November 1995, 20 years after the Double Six Crash, the '']Four Corners
Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...
'' TV series of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
(ABC), which is noted for its investigative exposés, ran a programme on the dangers of Nomad aircraft which had been suppressed over the years.[ At the time when the programme was broadcast, there were a total of 19 Nomad accidents with 56 deaths. It was the aircraft crash flown by Glen Donovan on 12 March 1990 that caused a mutiny among Australian army pilots and the usage of all military Nomads were discontinued after that. Harry Bradford was a former RAAF test pilot. He found controllability issues of the aircraft especially during its handling on approach and landing. However, his reports were being suppressed because it could harm the reputation GAF and Australian national interests. A former GAF design engineer, Paul Hughes, bought 16 Nomad aircraft through his own corporation. However, soon after that, he filed a legal suit against Nomad for a number of aircraft defects such as a defective tail design and maximum weight limit that the aircraft can carry which was far lower than advertised weight limit. The Australian government finally paid A$ 4 million to Hughes Corporation. Hughes then disposed of 15 out of 16 aircraft that he had bought. Tun Fuad's family believed that the aircraft's faulty design was a more likely cause of the Double Six Crash back in 1999.][
]
Aftermath
A monument known as the Double Six Monument was later built at the crash site in order to commemorate the tragedy.
Malaysian Home Ministry banned the book titled ''Peter J Mojuntin – The Golden Son of The Kadazan'' as soon as it was published in May 1978. The book contains detailed description of events happened before, during, and after the aircraft crash. The ban has not been lifted since then in order to ensure "public safety as the book was very critical of the federal government". Since 2010, various quarters have been seeking to lift the ban on the book. In May 2024, former chief minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan had expressed his hopes to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to consider lifting the ban on the book on the closing of the state-level Kaamatan Festival.
In July 2010, former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Harris bin Mohd Salleh (born 4 November 1930) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Sabah from June 1976 to April 1985. During his tenure, he ceded the island of Labuan, which used to be part of ...
filed a defamation suit against another former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee
Yong Teck Lee or also better known as ''Malay titles#Datuk Sri, Datuk Seri Panglima Mr.'' YTL ''(name abbreviation)'' ( zh, t=楊德利, s=杨德利, p=Yáng Délì; born 3 October 1958) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who has served as t ...
following claims that Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician who served as the Dewan Rakyat, Member of Parliament (MP) for Gu ...
(former Petronas
Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...
chairman) did not board the ill-fated flight when Harris asked Razaleigh to join him for another flight to Banggi Island to inspect a cattle farm. Yong had called for a new investigation in the case in order to find the exact cause of the aircraft crash. On 28 February 2012, Sabah High Court ruled that Yong had "crossed the line" by using the words "crime" and "assassination" against Harris Salleh. Yong was ordered to pay RM 1 million in damages to Harris.[ However, on 19 November 2013, ]Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
ordered Harris to refund the entire amount of damages back to Yong. On 26 September 2017, the Federal Court of Malaysia
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
ordered Yong to compensate Harris RM 600,000 because Yong implicated Harris of having "blood on his hands" despite having no proof of backing up his statement.
In June 2022, a newspaper based in Sabah named "Daily Express" published a documentary detailing events of the crash incident. In June 2024, chairman of NGO Sunduvan Sabah, Aloysius Danim Siap said the group wants the younger generation to learn how the Double Six crash changed the state's political landscap
References
Further reading
Malaysia:Death of Tun Haji Fuad
Video footage taken on 9 June 1976 depicting the crash scene and coffins of the victims. Published by Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
.
"Accident description"
Details of the accident published by Aviation Safety Network
Final report by Ministry of Transport Malaysia
Archive
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia
Kota Kinabalu
Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976
Sabah Air accidents and incidents
History of Sabah
1976 disasters in Malaysia
June 1976 in Asia