Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 Explained

Occurrence Type:Hijacking
Date:4 December 1977
Type:Hijacking
Site:Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia
Passengers:93
Crew:7
Fatalities:100
Occupants:100
Survivors:0
Aircraft Type:Boeing 737-2H6
Tail Number:9M-MBD
Origin:Penang International Airport
Last Stopover:Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
Destination:Singapore Int'l Airport (Paya Lebar)
Operator:Malaysian Airline System

Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 (MH653) was a scheduled domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, operated by Malaysian Airline System (MAS). On the evening of 4 December 1977, the Boeing 737-200 aircraft flying the service crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, while purportedly being diverted by hijackers to Singapore.[1] It was the first fatal air crash for Malaysia Airlines[2] [3] (as the airline is now known), with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed.[4] [5] It is also the deadliest aviation disaster to occur on Malaysian soil. The flight was apparently hijacked as soon as it reached cruise altitude. The circumstances in which the hijacking and subsequent crash occurred remain unsolved.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-2H6 registered as It had been delivered new to MAS in September 1972 with registration [6]

Sequence of events

Flight 653 departed from Runway 22 at Penang International Airport at exactly 19:21 for Kuala Lumpur's Subang Airport (now known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport).[7]

Captain GK Ganjoor and First Officer Karamuzaman Jali were making landing preparations at 19:54, while at an altitude of 4000feet over Batu Arang and descending toward Runway 33 at Subang Airport, when the crew reported to Subang Tower that an "unidentified hijacker" was on board, after someone knocked on the cockpit doors.[8] Subsequently, the pilots were forced to cut off all communications by one or more hijackers who suddenly barged into the cockpit. The tower immediately notified the authorities, who made emergency preparations at the airport.[9]

A few minutes later, the crew radioed: "We're now proceeding to Singapore. Good night."[10] In the last few minutes of the tapes from the cockpit voice recorder, investigators heard conversation between the pilots and the hijackers about how the aircraft would run out of fuel before it could make it to Singapore, followed by a series of gunshots. They concluded that both the pilot and co-pilot were fatally shot by the hijacker, which left the plane "professionally uncontrolled".[11] At 20:15, all communication with the aircraft was lost. At 20:36, the residents of Kampong Ladang, Tanjung Kupang in Johor reported hearing explosions and seeing burning wreckage in a swamp. The wreckage was later identified as the aircraft; it had hit the ground at a near-vertical angle at a very high speed. There were no survivors.[4]

Investigation and aftermath

The full circumstances of the hijacking and crash were never solved.[12] An analysis by Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation of evidence from the investigation concludes that:[13]

All recovered remains were x-rayed in an attempt to discover evidence of a projectile or weapon, but no such evidence was ever found. The remains of the victims were interred in a mass burial.[14]

After the incident, the Aviation Security Unit of the Airport Standard Division of the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia was established.[15]

Passengers and crew

Passengers included the Malaysian Agricultural Minister, Dato' Ali Haji Ahmad; Public Works Department Head, Dato' Mahfuz Khalid; and Cuban Ambassador to Japan, Mario García Incháustegui.[16] [17] [18]

The numbers and nationalities of the passengers and crew appear in the table below:[19]

Persons on board MH653
Nationality Passengers Crew Total
Malaysia 67 6 73
United Kingdom 5 0 5
West Germany 4 0 4
Australia 3 0 3
India 2 1 3
Indonesia 3 0 3
Cuba 2 0 2
Afghanistan 1 0 1
Canada 1 0 1
Japan 1 0 1
Greece 1 0 1
Singapore 1 0 1
Thailand 1 0 1
United States 1 0 1
Total (14 Nationalities) 93 7 100

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: A hijacked Malaysian airlines jet with 100 persons aboard exploded and crashed Sunday night. 4 December 1977. Associated Press.
  2. News: Malaysia Airlines flight crashes with 50 on board. 15 September 1995. Agence France Presse.
  3. News: Worst MAS plane crash occurred in 1977. 15 September 1995. New Straits Times. 4.
  4. News: 4 December 1977. All 100 Aboard Killed in Crash of Hijacked Malaysian Airliner. Toledo Blade. Associated Press. Johore Baharu. 22 July 2014. Google News.
  5. News: 1977-12-05. Hijacked Jet Crashes in Malaysia; All 100 Aboard Are Feared Dead. The New York Times. Associated Press. 2021-03-12. 0362-4331.
  6. Web site: Ranter. Harro. Hijacking description, Boeing 737-2H6 9M-MBD. 9 March 2014. Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation.
  7. News: 328 killed in nine incidents. 1 September 1996. New Straits Times. 4.
  8. Web site: Taylor. Phil. 2014-04-14. Hijacked airman's family still suffering 37 years after crash. 2021-03-12. NZ Herald.
  9. Web site: Revisited after 36 years: Malaysia Airlines MH653. 2019-07-01.
  10. News: Asian Rebound Boosts Startups, But Safely Remains A Concert . Dennis. William. 4 January 2000. Aviation Daily.
  11. News: Boykoff. Pamela. Mohsin. Saima. 28 March 2014. Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 surfaces pain of 1977 tragedy. CNN. 28 March 2014.
  12. Web site: Dempsey. Kylan. 2020-10-21. Who hijacked Malaysia Airlines 653? Revisiting the mystery 43 years on. registration. 2021-10-13. Southeast Asia Globe.
  13. Web site: Bin Salman . Omar . August 1978 . Boeing 737 9M-MBD: Accident near Gelang Patah, Negeri Johor on 4th December, 1977 – Report 1/78 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231217112707/https://www.mot.gov.my/en/Archived%20BSKU/1970-1979/1978/A%200178%209M-MBD%20%28Tg.%20Kupang%29.pdf . 17 December 2023 . 17 December 2023 . Aircraft Accident Investigation Team, Department of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transport, Malaysia . [MoT archive file ref: A 0178 9M-MBD (Tg.Kupang)].
  14. News: Mass burial planned for unidentified victims. 18 September 1995. New Straits Times. 7.
  15. Web site: 24 February 2015 . Aviation Security: Key Officers – Profile: Hj. Abdul Rahman Bin Mahat, Director of Aviation Security Division. dead. 2016-09-16 . Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia . 27 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200627233907/http://www.dca.gov.my/sectors-divisions/aviation-security/.
  16. News: Memorial tells a sad tale of neglect. 15 January 2000. Business Times.
  17. News: Ramendran. Charles. 2021-03-12. Who hijacked Flight MH653?. 2021-03-12. The Sun.
  18. News: Common burial for air crash victims . 23 December 2022 . . NewspaperSG; National Library Board of Singapore . 8 December 1977 . en-SG.
  19. News: Night minister couldn't sleep The full list of passengers The crew . The Straits Times . NewspaperSG; National Library Board of Singapore . 6 December 1977 . 1.