‘Double 6’ Plane Crash Report To Be Declassified But Do You Know What It Was About?
On 6 June 1976, former Sabah Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens and some Sabah political leaders perished in a plane crash enroute to Kota Kinabalu from Labuan.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced that the final report on the 1976 “Double Six” plane crash in Sabah will be declassified.
According to The Star, the Transport Ministry is tasked with releasing the full report next week.
The Cabinet has decided to declassify the case report, which has been kept under wraps for the past 47 years, in the interest of the victims’ families and people in Sabah.
On 1 July 2022, former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh filed a lawsuit through a judicial review application seeking to direct the government to declassify the report.
He named the chief secretary of the government of Malaysia, the transport minister, and the government of Malaysia as respondents, Malay Mail reported.
On 6 June 1976, the GAF Nomad N.22B plane carrying several Sabah political leaders crashed and there were no survivors.
Those who perished were:
- Captain Ghandi Nathan, pilot and captain of the aircraft
- Corporal Said, the bodyguard of Tun Fuad
- Chong Thien Voon, Sabah Works and Communication Minister
- Darius Binion, Assistant Minister
- Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Sabah Minister of Local Government and Housing
- Datuk Salleh Sulong, Sabah Finance Minister
- Datuk Wahid Andu
- Dr. Syed Hussin Wafa, Director of State Economic Planning Unit
- Johari Stephens, trainee pilot with Sabah Flying Club
- Tun Fuad Stephens, Chief Minister of Sabah at that time
- Datuk Ishak Atan, private secretary to Tengku Razaleigh (Malaysian Finance Minister at that time)
Australian GAF Nomad aircraft manufacturer launched an investigation to prove that the crash was not due to a mechanical defect.
The findings were not made public, but it was stated that they found no technical errors or sabotage as the cause of the air crash.
However, they discovered that the fault was due to a pilot error.
The aircraft’s storage space at the back of the aircraft was loaded with goods above the maximum load. It was said the goods were items such as golf equipment and colour television sets from Labuan’s duty-free port.
A super summary of the events
Tun Fuad Stephens of Sabah’s BERJAYA party was sworn in as the 5th Sabah Chief Minister on 15 April 1976.
On 6 June, Tun Fuad boarded the government-chartered plane with Tengku Razaleigh and the other BERJAYA leaders. They were en route from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu.
Tengku Razaleigh was initially on board the plane but allegedly left after he was invited by Harris Salleh to inspect a cattle ranch at Banggi Island. He also invited Abdul Rahman to follow him.
His private secretary, Ishak Atan, decided to remain on the plane to prepare documents for the Petronas deal signing ceremony in Kota Kinabalu.
According to reports at the time, Tun Fuad’s son, Johari Stephens (25 years old then) was a trainee pilot and he asked whether he could ride in the aircraft’s co-pilot seat. The request was granted and they took off from Labuan.
Tun Fuad’s plane took off first followed by Harris’ plane.
The flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu usually takes around 40 minutes, so they should have landed at Kota Kinabalu International Airport about 3.30pm.
Peter Mojuntin’s eldest son, George Mojuntin, was one of the eyewitnesses of the crash. He was playing golf with his friends nearby when the plane crashed into the Sembulan Sea while trying to land at the airport.
The plane reportedly approached from the north when it seemed to stall mid-air with one wing dipping down and the whole plane spiralled one and a half turns into shallow waters that were three feet deep.
Residents nearby allegedly heard the explosion and saw the aircraft broken into two with the cockpit embedded in the sandbank.
Police Commissioner Yusof Khan and Tun Fuad’s brother Ben Stephens were the first at the scene.
Yusof said the plane was a total wreck and he had to cut open the aircraft. The harsh impact caused the mangled bodies to converge near the cockpit except for one who was strapped in the safety belt.
All 11 bodies were beyond recognition except for Peter Mojuntin’s face. Yusof said he was horrified because most of BERJAYA’s senior leaders perished.
The deaths left a vacuum in BERJAYA’s party leadership and created five vacant Sabah state assembly seats. On 21 June 1976, Barisan Nasional accepted the applications from BERJAYA and USNO to join the coalition.
The Double Six Monument near the Grace Garden housing complex in Kota Kinabalu served as a memorial of the tragedy.
The stone monument is obelisk-shaped and erected on the exact spot of the crash.
Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
