- Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
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Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 Hijacking summary Date 4 December 1977 Type Hijacking, unsolved crash Site Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia Passengers 93 Crew 7 Injuries 0 Fatalities 100 (all) Aircraft type Boeing 737-2H6 Operator Malaysia Airlines Tail number 9M-MBD Flight origin Penang International Airport Last stopover Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Destination Singapore International Airport (Paya Lebar) Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 (MH653), a Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft registered as 9M-MBD (delivered September 1972 as 9M-AQO), crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, in Malaysia on the evening of 4 December 1977.[1] It was the deadliest and first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly.[2][3] The flight was apparently hijacked as soon as it reached cruise altitude. The circumstances in which the hijacking and subsequent crash occurred remain unsolved.
Contents
Flight number
Currently, Malaysia Airlines uses flight 653 as a flight from Penang to Singapore which operates daily, departs 13:15 and arrives at 14:35. The opposite is flight 652 as a flight from Singapore to Penang which operates daily, departs 11:05 and arrives at 12:25.
Sequence of events
Flight MH653 departed Penang's Runway 22 at exactly 19:21 hours for Kuala Lumpur's Subang Airport (now known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport).[4] Passengers included the Malaysian Agricultural Minister, Dato' Ali Haji Ahmad; Public Works Department Head, Dato' Mahfuz Khalid; and Cuban Ambassador to Japan, Mario García.[1][5] The pilot in command was Captain G.K. Ganjoor.
Nationality [6] Fatalities Malaysia
73 United Kingdom
5 West Germany
4 Australia
3 India
3 Indonesia
3 Cuba
2 Afghanistan
1 Canada
1 Japan
1 Greece
1 Singapore
1 Thailand
1 United States
1 Total 100 At approximately 19:54 hours, while at an altitude of 4,000 feet over Batu Arang and descending toward Subang's Runway 33, captain G.K. Ganjoor reported an "unidentified hijacker" onboard to Subang Tower. The tower immediately notified the authorities, who made emergency preparations at the airport.
A few minutes later, however, Captain Ganjoor radioed: "We're now proceeding to Singapore...". Flight MH653 never touched down at Singapore.[7]
The cockpit voice recordings indicate noises suggestive of the cockpit door being broken in, along with a reasonable amount of screaming and cursing. No noises are heard from within the cockpit to indicate any of the three occupants were conscious. The autopilot was then disconnected, possibly due to a pitch input by someone entering the cockpit and trying to control the aircraft. An investigator speculated that someone pulled back on the column, causing a pitch up, followed by an oscillation. This rapidly developed into a high amplitude phugoid oscillation that resulted in a rapid dive.
At 20:15 hours, all communication with flight MH653 was lost.
At 20:36 hours, the residents of Kampong Ladang, Tanjong Kupang in Johor reported hearing explosions and seeing burning wreckage in a swamp. The wreckage was later identified as Flight MH653. The plane hit the ground at a near-vertical angle at a very high speed. There were no survivors and not one recognizable body was found.
Aftermath
Some speculate that the Japanese Red Army was responsible for the hijacking, although no further evidence to support this hypothesis has come forward.[8]
All recovered remains were x-rayed in an attempt to discover evidence of a projectile or weapon. No weapon or bullet was ever found. The remains of the victims were interred in a mass burial.[9]
Memorial
The memorial site is situated at Jalan Kebun Teh, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.[5] It is known as Tanjung Kupang Memorial. It was erected by the Johor state government on 8 December 1977, 4 days after the incident.
Notable references
- A Malay language novel used in secondary schools in Malaysia called Tragedi Empat Disember ("The Tragedy of December 4"), written by Dzul Karnain Ithnin, is a story about a plane crash in Tanjung Pangku (as opposed to Tanjung Kupang), with obvious references to the real disaster.
See also
- D. B. Cooper, another one of the few cases of unsolved hijacking in the world
References
- ^ a b "A hijacked Malaysian airlines jet with 100 persons aboard exploded and crashed Sunday night". Associated Press. 1977-12-04.
- ^ "Malaysia Airlines flight crashes with 50 on board". Agence France Presse. 1995-09-15.
- ^ "Worst MAS plane crash occurred in 1977". New Straits Times: p. 4. 1995-09-15.
- ^ "328 killed in nine incidents". New Straits Times: p. 4. 1996-09-01.
- ^ a b "Memorial tells a sad tale of neglect". Business Times. 2000-01-15.
- ^ "Names list on the Tanjung Kupang Memorial plaque"
- ^ Dennis, William (2000-01-04). "Asian Rebound Boosts Startups, But Safely Remains A Concert [sic]". Aviation Daily.
- ^ Ethiopia mourns crash victims. CNN, 25 November 1996 (see last paragraph).
- ^ "Mass burial planned for unidentified victims". New Straits Times. 1995-09-18. p. 7.
Malaysia Airlines History Services Frequent flyer programs subsidiaries May 10 Israeli CH-53 crash
May 14 Dan-Air Boeing 707 crash
May 27 Aeroflot Ilyushin-62 crash
Sep 27 Japan Airlines Flight 715
Sep 28 Japan Airlines Flight 472
Oct 13 Lufthansa Flight 181Oct 20 Lynyrd Skynyrd Convair 240 crash
Nov 19 TAP Portugal Flight 425
Dec 4 Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
Dec 13 Evansville basketball team crash
Dec 17 United Airlines Flight 2860
Dec 18 SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730Incidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics. Deadliest incident shown in bold smallcaps.Categories:- 1977 in Malaysia
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1977
- Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia
- Airliner hijackings resulting in crashes
- Malaysia Airlines accidents and incidents
- Terrorist incidents in 1977
- Terrorism in Malaysia
- Airliner hijackings
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