The Double Six Tragedy, also known as the Double Six Crash, was a plane crash which took place on June 6, 1976 in Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...

, Malaysia. The plane, operated by Sabah Air

Sabah Air

Penerbangan Sabah Sdn Bhd, trading as SabahAir , is an airline based in Sabah, Malaysia.- History :...

, coming from Labuan

Labuan

Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...

 crashed in the sub-district of Sembulan in Kota Kinabalu upon approaching Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Kota Kinabalu International Airport serves the city of Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located about 8 km southwest of the city centre. It is the second busiest airport in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur International Airport, handling 4.8 million passengers in 2009...

. The crash killed everyone on board the flight, including Tun Fuad Stephens

Tun Fuad Stephens

Tun Haji Mohammad Fuad Stephens, previously known as, Donald Stephens, was the first Chief Minister of the state of Sabah in Malaysia. He played a fundamental role in bringing the state of Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. He held the chief minister post until 1964, and again in 1976...

, the Chief Minister of Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

 at that time. The other passengers on the flight were State Ministers Datuk Salleh Sulong, Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Chong Thien Vun, and assistant minister Darius Binion. Others who perished were the then Secretary of State for the Ministry of Finance of Sabah Datuk Wahid Peter Andau, Director of Economic Planning Unit of Sabah Dr. Syed Hussein Wafa, Isak Atan (Private Secretary to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah is a major Malaysian political figure from the state of Kelantan, and a former Finance Minister. He is an uncle of the current Raja Perempuan of Kelantan. Tengku is a Malay hereditary title usually translated as prince...

), Corporal Said Mohammad (bodyguard to Tun Fuad Stephens), Captain Gandhi Nathan (the pilot of the aircraft) and Tun Fuad's eldest son Johari Stephens.

The reason behind the crash is uncertain. Immediately after the accident there were allegations of foul play due to the political circumstances at the time. The Australian government sent a team of four investigators to assist in finding the cause of the accident. Mechanical failure was ruled out, and preliminary investigations indicated overloading was one of the contributing factors. The real reason for the crash remains a mystery, and the original report on the incident remains classified.

In the afternoon following the accident, Deputy Chief Minister Harris Salleh

Harris Salleh

Yang Berhormat Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Harris bin Mohd Salleh, was the 6th Chief Minister of the state of Sabah, in Malaysia. He was also the president for Parti Berjaya. He held the Chief Minister's post from 1976 to 1985...

 was sworn in as the sixth Chief Minister of Sabah.

The aircraft was an Australian designed and built Nomad

GAF Nomad

The GAF Nomad is a twin-engine turboprop, high-winged, "short take off and landing" aircraft . It was designed and built by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne. Major users of the design have included the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the...

. Norman aircraft were not fitted with black boxes.