KOTA KINABALU – The declassification of the Double-Six air crash investigation report by the federal government has met lacklustre reactions from those who have been closely observing the matter for years.
Datuk Donald Mojuntin told The Vibes he was surprised the government decided to classify the report in the first place, describing the contents as only “normal”.
He said none of the contents have anything of public interest aside from the pilot’s alleged inexperience or negligence, which he said are not grounds to place the report under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
“The biggest question now is why it was classified in the first place, not bringing closure to the families of the victims? This is what boggles our minds.
“The families went through 46 years of pain not knowing what happened. Every year at the memorial on June 6, a lot of questions, conspiracy theories came out because the report was not made public.
“But now that it is declassified, there is no justification as to why it was under the OSA. Of course, it was a bit of an anti-climax, disappointing and perplexing. Why hide this from the families who went through so many things?” he said.
Donald, the son of victim Datuk Peter Mojuntin, said that while he thanked the government for releasing the report, he now does not know how to express his emotions.
He said that he only knows some of his family members have been sore over the federal government’s secrecy.
“They did not get the closure they expected when the report came out. It only raises more questions,” said Mojuntin.
He questioned whose interests the federal government was trying to protect.
He said the report was harmless in the sense of public interest and national security.
Mojuntin also said some leaders had alluded that if the report was made public, it would go against public interest or national security.
‘Putrajaya must compel Canberra to release its own report’
Former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said the release of the report by the Transport Ministry has not fully quelled the mystery behind the tragic air crash in 1976.
He maintained that Putrajaya must compel Australia to release its own report on the incident which, controversially enough, is said to have some texts removed.
“Having read the Malaysian report on the infamous Double Six air crash, I maintain my view that the Malaysian government should immediately ask the Australian government to release their full report on the same air crash.
“Only then can there be closure on the tragic air crash,” he said in a brief reply here today.
The investigation report on the Sabah Air Nomad N-22B 9M-ATZ crash was made public today by the Transport Ministry following declassification on April 6.
It cites “unusual” technical difficulties as the cause, and concluded that miscalculations surrounding the centre of gravity involving the aircraft’s tail were the “probable cause” of the accident that killed then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and 10 others.
However, Yong referred to the importance of a report now withheld by the Australian National Archives titled “Accident Malaysia Nomad Aircraft 9M-ATZ on June 6, 1976”, from which “certain parts of the text have been expunged”, according to him.
Only with both the Malaysian and Australian versions would there be closure to the Double-Six tragedy, Yong said.
Yong had raised this matter even before the Malaysian report’s contents were made public.
Immediately after the cabinet decided to declassify the report, Yong had said that the reason the Australian National Archives withheld the publication of their own country’s full report was that the “release of the information could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the international relations of the Commonwealth”.
According to him, the Australian National Archives’ office stated that their “records contain technical detail…which could impact the Commonwealth’s (Australia’s) relations with the current government of a foreign country”.
The office had said this in a reply to Yong’s representative on March 14, 2021.
He noted that the “foreign country” refers to Malaysia.
‘Nothing justifies its classification’
Sabah Law Society president Roger Chin has questioned the need to have the report classified for close to 47 years.
“The declassified report does not contain anything justifying its classification as secret. Surely the time has come for a freedom of information (law) to be brought into force in Malaysia and Sabah.
“What happened in this 47-year-old event must not be repeated as it only leads to unwarranted speculation, conspiracy theories, and heartache for many of those concerned,” said Chin.
He had previously pointed out no conspiracy theories would be debunked.
The release of the air crash report came following the Kota Kinabalu High Court’s order to the federal government to declassify the federal investigation report on the incident that occurred on June 6, 1976.
The crash had killed eleven individuals and was dubbed the Double-Six incident.
Those who perished included Fuad, state housing and local government minister Peter, works and communication minister Datuk Chong Thien Vun, state finance minister Datuk Salleh Sulong, assistant minister Datuk Darius Binion, state Finance Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Wahid Peter Andau, Sabah economic planning unit director Syed Hussein Wafa, federal finance minister secretary Ishak Atan, Fuad’s bodyguard Said Mohammad, Fuad’s son Johari Fuad Stephens, and the pilot Gandhi J. Nathan.
Families hurt by shroud of secrecy
Meanwhile, a family member of one of the victims, Iskandar Sulong, echoed Chin’s question on why the federal government had to keep the investigation report secret for close to five decades.
“Why did they have to keep it under wraps?” asked Iskandar, adding that it was “hurtful” that it was kept so for quite a long time.
Iskandar, who is the son of Salleh Sulong, agreed that the Australian version should be released.
Penampang MP Datuk Ewon Benedick is scheduled to hand over the investigation report to the families of the late Mojuntin and Binion around noon tomorrow.
On July 11, 2022, the Kota Kinabalu High Court had ruled in favour of former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Mohd Harris Salleh’s application for a judicial review to make the report public.
He told a local daily in reaction to the court’s decision that since the air crash occurred, “he had been forced to put up with insinuations on every anniversary that he may have had something to do with the Double Six tragedy”.
Harris was made chief minister of Sabah following the air crash and subsequently signed the oil agreement that brought forth the 5% oil royalty for the state.
Allegations then surfaced that the agreement was rushed, as well as a conspiracy theory that the incident was part of an assassination plot to see Sabah lose its oil and gas rights. – The Vibes, April 12, 2023
