KOTA KINABALU: Canberra must ensure that the "full report" of the investigations into Sabah's "Double Six" Nomad plane crash be made public, says Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.
The former Sabah chief minister was concerned that certain folios of the reports stored at the Australian National Archives had been expunged.
"My concern is that, as per the response to our search of the (Nomad crash) report in 2022, the National Archives of Australia had said that 110 folios have been expunged," he said when contacted Friday (April 14).
"I have already voiced concern about what might be in the 110 folios, presumably in two batches of 14 folios and 96 folios," he said.
He said that the "full report" must be made public by the Australian government as it was important to give closure to the families and the people of Sabah over the tragic air crash that killed all on board.
"As the aircraft was manufactured by an Australian company, it is safe to assume that their report will contain a more thorough run-through of the aircraft design and fitness," said Yong, who was among state leaders pushing for making public the June 6, 1976 air crash investigation report over the last two decades,
Yong believed that the Australian air crash investigation reports would be more comprehensive compared with the 21-page Malaysian report that was declassified on Wednesday (April 12), 47 years after the incident.
"In comparison, the Malaysian report contains only 21 pages. That was a skimpy report. Even a bus accident report would contain more information than what was contained in the Malaysian air crash report," he said.
"We need to compare the full Australian report with the Malaysian report," he said.
The Malaysian crash investigation report primarily put the blame on pilot error and overloading in the rear cargo bay of the Nomad, which crashed into waters of Sembulan just as it made an approach to land at the Kota Kinabalu airport.
The investigation ruled out any foul play including sabotage or fire for the cause of the crash.
It stated that due to heavier weight, it caused an imbalance to the plane that caused it to stall and nosedive into the sea.
Following the disclosure of the Malaysian air crash report, Capt Nizam Gandhi Nathan, the son of the Nomad pilot Captain Gandhi Nathan, described the investigation report as one with “lots of holes" in it.
Nizam, a retired pilot with Malaysia Airlines for over 40 years, said that there were too many discrepancies and loopholes in the investigations which led to many incorrect assertions and findings with the report declassified by the Federal Government.
He questioned why the investigators did not include Australian Air Traffic Safety Board officials in the investigations but only officials from the Australian Transport Department.
He said it was near impossible to verify the correctness, accuracy and thoroughness of the investigative methods employed and the qualifications and integrity of investigators five decades later.
On whether the Australian report would give a better picture, Nizam said that the investigation with personnel from the Australian Transport Department could not possibly have been independent since aircraft manufacturer GAF was government-owned and it would have been in their interest to come up with a report that assigned fault to others rather than the aircraft itself and GAF.
"As the report is not independent, they will go out of their way to deflect blame on others," Nizam said.
He added that the Australian report on the crash was unlikely to provide any answers as it was done by their government and he felt that it could be compromised.
