Black box not mandatory in Double Six aircraft - Loke

Transport Minister Anthony Loke has clarified that there was no mention of any black box recordings in the recently declassified investigative report on the “Double Six” plane crash as flight recorders were not mandatory on that aircraft at the time.

Loke (above) said this in a written parliamentary reply to Wilfred Madius Tangau (Harapan-Tuaran), who asked why the report made no mention of recordings from the plane’s black box.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan also recently claimed that many questions would remain over the crash as long as the whereabouts of the aircraft’s black box remained unknown.

“The final investigative report did not mention the records from the black box/flight recorder as the installation of a black box/flight recorder on the GAF N-22B Nomad plane model was not required at the time,” said Loke in his reply to Tangau.

The Double Six Crash took place on June 6, 1976, at Kota Kinabalu, killing several local political leaders including incumbent chief minister Fuad Stephens, just 53 days after he won the state election.

For the record, the crash report does state, “There is no requirement for this aircraft to be equipped with a flight recorder and none is fitted”.

Even under current regulations, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia does not require older, small, turboprop-engine aircraft similar to the Nomad to be equipped with flight recorders.

The requirement is only imposed on newer or larger aircraft depending on their weight, engine configuration, and when the aircraft first received its first type or individual airworthiness certificate.

No compensation yet

Meanwhile, in response to another question from Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran) on compensation to victims’ families as a result of the government’s release of the report, Loke said there was no compensation that followed directly and any claims would have to be resolved through the existing legal process.

A few months after the crash, an investigation conducted by Nomad experts and Australian Transport Ministry officials was closed but its report was not made public.

Loke also clarified that at the time, there was no requirement for the government to publicise the findings under the International Civil Aviation Organization’s regulations.

“However, this was amended in the Tenth Edition Annex 13 in July 2010 requiring that an air accident investigation report should be prepared and published to the public within 12 months from the date an accident or incident occurs.

“Since the enforcement of Tenth Edition Annex, all air crash reports were made public.

“In this context, the government’s decision to reclassify the GAF N-22B Nomad Air Accident Investigation Final Report, June 6, 1976, under section 2C of the Official Secret Act 1972 [Act 88] to be made public from April 11, 2023, is in line with the government’s policy and aspirations which, among other things, values transparency and openness,” explained Loke.

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