Remembering Tanjung Kupang, 1977

THE missing MH370 is now the worst air crash in the country after the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the plane is lost in the Indian Ocean with no hope of survivors.

Until then, the Tanjung Kupang tragedy had been Malaysia’s worst plane crash.

It was 37 years ago when villagers from nearby Kampung Tanjung Kupang saw a plane scream overhead and hit the ground in a mangrove forest at high speed and a near vertical angle. It burst into flames, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew members on board.

MAS flight MH653 had been hijacked on the night of Dec 4, 1977.

Though the actual cause of the crash remains a mystery, investigations and information retrieved from the flight’s communications with air traffic controllers revealed there was a hijacker on board the Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft.

On that fateful night, the flight took off from Bayan Lepas Airport in Penang at 7.21pm and was bound for Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

At 7.47pm, the aircraft flew over Batu Arang, Selangor, and began its descent to Subang Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport). It was during this point that pilot Captain G.K. Ganjoor informed the Subang air control tower: “We have an emergency on board.”

He then clarified: “We have a hijacker on board.”

Two minutes later, as the plane approached Kuala Lumpur, Subang control tower advised Ganjoor that the aircraft was “cleared to land on Runway 33 with no delay”.

The plane made a landing approach, but pulled up before it could touch down. Ganjoor then informed the tower: “We are now proceeding to Singapore.”

The Paya Lebar control tower in Singapore was informed and clearance was given for the jetliner to descend.

Ganjoor made radio contact with Paya Lebar and was advised by the tower to expect approach at 8.45pm.

This final communication was not acknowledged by Ganjoor, and soon after, the plane went off the radar screen. All efforts to re-establish radio contact failed. The aircraft crashed at about 8.20pm.

Among the dead were the then agriculture minister, Datuk Ali Ahmad, newly-accredited Cuban ambassador to Malaysia, Mario Garcia Inchaustegui, and his wife.

The funeral service was held in Kebun Teh, Johor Baru on Dec 9. It was a mass, interfaith ceremony as all bodies were completely disintegrated and unrecognisable.

Final rites and prayers were led by imams, monks and priests. Seven caskets were laid next to each other. It’s now a memorial park, a monument to mark that great tragedy.

While reports at the time speculated that the hijacker was a member of the terrorist left-wing group, Japanese Red Army, the identity of the hijacker was never established.

What happened on Flight 653 remains an unsolved mystery, almost as much a mystery as that of MH370 now.


Source : http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/26/Remembering-Tanjung-Kupang-1977-By-G-SURACH/