KUALA LUMPUR: The government has released the full report of the June 6, 1976, air crash in Kota Kinabalu which saw 11 people killed, including then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens.
According to the report, the probable cause of the crash was that the GAF Nomad aircraft had been overloaded in the aft, or rear, section.
The report said the aircraft had a "low centre of gravity position well outside the aft limit", causing the control column to run out of forward range when the nose pitched up when the flaps were applied to the 25 degree position on final approach to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
"This led the nose of the aircraft to continue to rise without any more room for the forward control column to be operated, leading the flight condition to rapidly deteriorate to the point where the aircraft stalled," said the report which was signed by the then Civil Aviation Department chief inspector of accidents Omar Saman.
The report also mentioned that there were no elements of sabotage or engine failure, while pathological tests on the pilot Captain Gandhi J. Nathan proved that he was reasonably fit at the time and not suffering from the effects of alcohol or drugs.
However, Omar mentioned that there was other evidence to suggest he was tired and had a mild stomach disorder.
The pilot reportedly flew from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu twice on the day of the accident with the first flight at 6.35am local time.
"Therefore as he took off at (6.35am) and suffered the fatal accident at (3.42pm), he had already been on duty for an official time of 11 hours and seven minutes — this is in excess of the company duty period of 10 hours.
"Thus at the time of the accident he had already exceeded duty time by 67 minutes.
"There was some suggestion by a witness that he was tired but this is inconclusive because it is not known how much sleep he had that night.
"Had this (rest period) been recorded properly by the company, then this pilot would not have been required to carry out the last flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu," the report added.
On the stomach disorder, the report mentions the possibility of the pilot suffering the effects of his previous evening's food because he specifically complained of feeling unwell before leaving on the last flight to Labuan at 1.10pm and again before departing from Labuan at 3.09pm on the final flight.
The report also mentioned that the company, Sabah Air, did not file an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan prior to takeoff.
Investigation of the company procedures indicated that the company did not ensure its procedures were as per the operations manual.
In addition, technical log entries were also of poor standard so as to make the document meaningless, the report said.
"Thus the scene appears to have been set where this pilot, not in the habit of completing many of the requirements or procedures called for by the company, did no more than a casual walk around of the aircraft at Labuan, and sat in the cockpit when the final loading was completed oblivious to incorrect distribution of the load.
"Against this background with VIP passengers boarding the aircraft and many other people evidently standing around, it is possible that the pilot was not in control of the loading," said Omar in the report.
The report also cast doubt on the skill of the pilot.
The investigation of the pilot's history Indicated that he had some difficulty in passing both ground and air tests.
He only succeeded in gaining a Nomad endorsement on his licence in February 1976 following a series of poor write-ups from the company check pilots.
The report also suggested that Sabah Air failed to obtain approval for the Nomad.
The full report can be accessed here.