KUALA LUMPUR: The report on the high-profile 1976 plane crash that claimed the lives of the then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and 10 others, should never have been classified.
Veteran politician Lim Kit Siang said it should have been made public 47 years ago, to not only explain Stephens' death, as well as dispel any rumour and conspiracy theory surrounding the crash, dubbed the "Double Six" tragedy.
He said the report that was made public yesterday showed there was "no public security aspect" to justify its classification under the Official Secrets Act for nearly five decades.
"It is a lesson that the government of the day, whether federal or state, should practise transparency and accountability among the principles of good governance at all times to secure public confidence.
"The classification of the Double Six Nomad Crash on June 6, 1976, for 47 years gave rise to various political conspiracy theories, which could have been avoided if the Federal Government had acted with transparency and accountability in 1976.
"It is a lesson that the government of the day, whether federal or state, does not know best what is good for the country and state. What is always needed is a responsible checks and balances," Lim said in a statement today.
The recently-declassified report on the incident revealed that there were neither elements of sabotage nor engine failure on the doomed plane piloted by Captain Gandhi J. Nathan.
Signed by the then Civil Aviation Department chief inspector of accidents Omar Saman, the report noted that while the pilot was reasonably fit at the time and did not suffer from the effects of alcohol or drugs, there was evidence that showed the latter was tired and had a mild stomach disorder.
The pilot reportedly flew from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu twice on the day of the incident, with the first flight taking place at 6.35am local time.
The report highlighted errors including uneven load within the plane, which led to the aircraft having a low centre of gravity position well outside the aft limit.
The report 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.
On April 5, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the full report of the 1976 Sabah Air GAF Nomad crash would be declassified after factoring in the views of the people of Sabah and demands by the victims' next-of-kin.
A month earlier, the Kota Kinabalu High Court ordered the Malaysian government to declassify the federal investigation report on the plane crash that killed Stephens and 10 others onboard.
Others who died in the incident were Datuk Peter Mojuntin (local government and housing minister), Datuk Salleh Sulong (Sabah finance minister) Chong Thien Vun (Sabah works and communication minister).
Also killed were Datuk Wahid Peter Andu (secretary to Sabah finance minister), Dr Syed Hussin Wafa (state economic planning director) and Datuk Ishak Atan (private secretary to then-Federal Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Stephens' eldest son Johari and bodyguard Corporal Said Mohammad.