‘Conflict of interest in Aussie report’
Published on: Tuesday, May 02, 2023
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There is a documentary on the Nomad airplane that was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The ABC is owned by the Australian government. The documentary was produced in September 1995 under the 4Corners investigative journalism banner. It is titled “Lies in the Sky”.
Kota Kinabalu: The family of Tun Fuad Stephens wants to know who Malaysia’s investigators in the Double six tragedy of 6.6.1976 sought opinions from besides Australia’s Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) and Australian Ministry of Transport – both of which the family claimed had a conflict of interest.The Nomad aircraft claimed the lives of Fuad and 10 others in Sembulan that day.
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Faridah Stephens (pic) said GAF was included in the investigations being the manufacturers. It ceased operations in the mid-1990s following numerous fatal crashes.
She said GAF manufactured the planes and the Government of Australia owned the GAF, and this is clear conflict of interest should have been watched and overseen with a very high degree of diligence and care.
“This is the norm because investigations into aircraft crashes are usually carried out to avoid the same mistakes.
“But it is clear from all the information I am reading that the GAF came to Malaysia not with an open mind to assist in finding the truth but to make sure their precious plane wasn’t implicated and found to be faulty.
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“This is clear in the correspondence. And they were given so much leeway to do this. Their tech report was accepted ‘in toto’. Who on the Malaysian side was overseeing this?” she asked.
“There is clearly a conflict of interest here. The situation is akin to someone being the judge on a murder trial in which they are a suspect,” she said.
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“The Australian team comprised the two Accredited Representatives from the Department of Transport, Australia, and two people from the GAF which manufactured the plane.
“These two people were Stuart Pearce (GAF Chief Test Pilot) and David Hooper (GAF Chief Designer) – both of whom died in a Nomad plane crash exactly two months later on 6th August 1976 in Avalon, Victoria, Melbourne. These are the two gentlemen who signed the report that has been released to us.
“We are told that including people from the aircraft manufacturing side in an investigation into a plane crash is a norm,” she said.
She also said her brother, Johari, being the person who sat next to the pilot in the Nomad is not a “revelation” as one news agency called it.
“This has been known since 1976 at the time of the plane crash. He had been taking flying lessons but to say that he was flying the Nomad plane at the time of the crash or had taken charge of it in any way is purely speculation, nothing more.
“We have read many imaginative accounts of what might have happened but, to be clear, there is not a shred of evidence to support any of it. No one survived the crash to be able to tell us,” she said.
She said to suggest otherwise is speculative, fantasy reporting aimed at pointing blame towards someone who cannot respond.
“Johari was there as a passenger. He was a 24-year-old man with every expectation of a great life ahead,” she said.
“Furthermore, the Nomad, like many small aircraft, does not require a co-pilot. The Nomad’s cockpit, while typically fitted with dual flight controls, is designed to be operated by a single pilot,” she said.
“To quote from a Minute written by RH Watts of the Department of Transport Australia dated Nov 16, 1977 (Please note that Choquenot and Sutherland who are mentioned here were Accredited Representatives – they were invited by the Malaysians to be part of the investigation and were from the Australian Dept of Transport):
“In essence, the Malaysian investigation depended to a major extent on the work of Choquenot, assisted by Sutherland, and he managed to keep the role of the two GAF representatives in perspective.”
“Prior to departing from Malaysia, Choquenot informally assisted Colonel (U) Omar Saman in preparing a draft of the Final Report and the Report closely follows that draft.”
“It is significant that Malaysia did not blindly accept what Australia and GAF were saying about the airworthiness of the N22 type. Largely at their instigation a technical report (Project Note N2/52) was prepared by GAF, which was vetted by this Branch before dispatch (Folio 25 Part 1 of this file).
“This lead to queries by Malaysia (Folio 31 and reply at Folio 32). It is my understanding that Malaysia also sought other opinion concerning the GAF report. The end result is that the Australian technical advice has been accepted in toto.”
Another paragraph that sheds light on the mindset of the authors of the Report by GAF Investigating Team on the Crash of a Sabah Air Nomad 9M-ATZ is under number 25 – “Recommendations” – and reads as follows:
“The authors [Stuart Pearce and David Hooper] believe that their detailed knowledge of the Nomad aircraft enabled them to assist the Board in their investigations and thus to expedite a series of logical conclusions. This was particularly so with regard to failures found in the flying control systems during wreckage examination, loading calculations and operational and handling considerations. During the discussions of likely causes and findings, a number of uninformed comments were made. We believe that had the GAF personnel not been present to correct inaccuracies, the investigation may well have concluded in a different light, possibly with criticism being levelled at the aircraft. We do not believe that it is in the best interests of the factory for the GAF investigation to be too closely associated with the DOT (Department of Transport). This is because, during the investigation, DOT in their attempts to be seen to be impartial made remarks which were perhaps seen by others to imply criticism of the Australian product.”
There is a documentary on the Nomad airplane that was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The ABC is owned by the Australian government. The documentary was produced in September 1995 under the 4Corners investigative journalism banner. It is titled “Lies in the Sky”.
The 4Corners documentary makes it very clear that the main interest of the Government Aircraft Factory and certain government officials – from the outset in the 1970s - was to make Australia a proud tech nation and to make money out of aircraft sales (they needed to sell 200 Nomad planes to break even). Any negative reports about the plane were suppressed as financial interests were given priority.
Another question is: Is the Report by GAF Investigating Team on the Crash of a Sabah Air Nomad 9M-ATZ the absolute final report available from the Australian side? The information and correspondence provided in the Australian Archive material suggests otherwise. This looks more like an internal memo and is clearly marked “Company Confidential”.
“Lastly, given the load of information from the Australian Archives that has been released along with the Government Aircraft Factory report on the Nomad plane crash of June 1976, we are seeking opinions from people who know more about these planes to understand the technical information. That may take a bit of time,” she said.
The Daily Express’ award winning team of journalists presents ‘Double Six: The Untold Stories’, a documentary on the plane crash in Sabah (East Malaysia) killing the newly-elected Chief Minister of Sabah Tun Mohd Fuad Stephens, four state ministers and six others on June 6th, 1976. After 46 years the findings of the crash also known to many as The Double Six Tragedy have not been disclosed. Note: This series unravels information not previously available to the public, but does not in any way attribute blame for the crash on any party.
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