KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The Australian government is working on releasing the country’s own reports on the 1976 “Double Six” plane crash, that killed then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and several members of the state Cabinet.
Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Justin Lee said the country is presently working through its domestic legal processes before releasing its reports on the tragedy.
Lee told The Star that the Australian government was cooperating with the Malaysian government on the report’s release.
“The Australian government has been working closely with Malaysia to release reports related to the 1976 Sabah plane crash.
“Australia is currently working through a domestic legal process to release the records,” he was quoted as saying in the English daily’s report published earlier this evening.
The response from Lee came shortly after Transport Minister Anthony Loke had today said Putrajaya has no objections to Australia releasing its own reports on the crash.
Lee also said that Australia acknowledged the 1976 plane crash was a tragic incident.
“We honour the memory of those who have lost their lives and the enormous loss felt by the loved ones,” he said.
Earlier, Loke was reported as saying Australia was prepared to release the report, but the Australian government had also asked for our Malaysian government’s opinion and approval out of respect as the incident happened in Malaysia.
“As far as we are concerned, we have no objection, so it’s up to the Australian government when to release the report,” he told a news conference in Putrajaya earlier today.
Yesterday, the three living children of Fuad Stephens issued a statement saying there were still many questions unanswered about the crash, and urged the Australian government to release its own reports on the tragedy.
One of the mysteries they said, was the motive for the Malaysian report to be classified under the Internal Security Act (ISA) – repealed in 2012 – and not released immediately after investigations concluded.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had last week announced that the government would declassify and make public the report on the “Double Six” air crash after 47 years.
The report, which was released yesterday, largely pointed to possible pilot errors and technical issues. There was no evidence of sabotage in the declassified documents.
Besides Fuad Stephens, the ill-fated flight also killed three state ministers, an assistant minister and government officials. Fuad Stephens was travelling from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu when the plane crashed in Sembulan which was near the state capital.
The lack of transparency over the reports has led to much speculation and various political conspiracies.
