Australia's probe finds Double Six illegally operated

SHAH ALAM - Australian investigations have found that the plane responsible for the tragic deaths of 11 individuals, including Sabah Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens, was operated illegally and was manufactured by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories (GAF).

The Australian disaster tribunal report said the draft manual for the aircraft operations submitted by Sabah Air at the end of 1975 had not yet receive approval from the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) at that time.

"This showed Sabah Air operated it without approval," the Australian Archive report said today.

On April 5, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the final investigation report into the Double Six plane incident, which occurred 47 years ago will be downgraded and declassified.

Anwar explained that the decision was made during a Cabinet meeting after considering the views of the Sabah people and the claims made by the heirs of the victims.

The incident, which occurred on June 6, 1976, involved a Nomad 9M-ATZ plane carrying a group from Labuan that crashed in the Sembulan district while approaching the Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Sabah

The final investigation report was declassified as an open document and could be accessed on the Transport Ministry's website starting on April 12.