KOTA KINABALU: Does it make any sense that an incompetent pilot was allowed to fly a plane carrying the Sabah Chief Minister and other VIPs?
And if he was really found to be not qualified to fly, why did the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) pass him and issue the licence? They could have suspended him at any time.
These were just some of the burning questions that are troubling the son of Captain Gandhi Nathan, the pilot in the “Double Six” plane crash.
Captain Nizam Gandhi, 62, himself a retired pilot, said there were too many discrepancies and loopholes in the investigations which led to many incorrect assertions and findings in the report on the crash, which was declassified by the Federal Government on Wednesday.
In the report, Capt Gandhi had been blamed for the 1976 “Double Six” Nomad plane crash, but his son said the investigation had “lots of holes”.
“Does it make any sense that an incompetent pilot was allowed to fly, more so the Chief Minister and VIPs?” he said, dispelling doubts about his father’s flying experience.
On the report that there was a lack of balance in the loading baggage in the rear cargo compartment, Capt Nizam said no pilot would have flown the plane until the problem was corrected.
“It was stated in the report that the baggage loaded at the aft baggage compartment (rear cargo) had exceeded the prescribed weight limit of that compartment and that contributed to the aft centre of gravity limits being exceeded.
“This apparently had caused the plane to stall at the final approach phase of the flight at Kota Kinabalu airport because the aircraft was grossly out of balance.
“The pilot was not made aware of this. If the company had made the proper weight and balance available in the form of a load sheet to the pilot – which is their responsibility to issue to the flight commander – this would not have happened.
“This piece of vital information was not presented to the commander. If the pilot had known that his plane was not loaded properly, he would not have made the flight until the changes were done for a safe flight,” Capt Nizam said.
He also asked why the investigators did not include officials of the Australian Air Traffic Safety Board.
“Why was the Australian Air Transport Safety Board (ATSB) not involved? They are an independent body in charge of all transport safety,” he said.
Only two Australian Transport Department officials were in the seven-member investigation team.
With the report released almost five decades after the incident, he said it was now near impossible to verify the accuracy of the investigative methods employed and the integrity of investigators.
“Remember, this was in 1976. It’s a fair assumption that Malaysians would not have had the adequate expertise to conduct aviation crash investigation without Australia’s help,” Capt Nizam said.
He also said the investigation with personnel from the Australian Transport Department could not possibly have been independent since aircraft manufacturer GAF was government-owned.
He said the Australian report on the crash was also unlikely to provide much in terms of answers as it was done by their government.
“I won’t hold my breath. The manufacturer GAF is investigating itself,” said Capt Nizam who was a pilot for more than 40 years before his retirement in 2020.
The report released on Wednesday said the history of the pilot indicated that he had some difficulties in passing both ground and air tests and only succeeded in getting a Nomad licence in February 1976.
It said he had received “a series of poor write ups” from the company’s checked pilots.
It claimed that Capt Gandhi’s training and performance record with the company (Sabah Air) was “marginal”.
