MH635 Tragedy: Malaysia’s Deadliest Plane Crash After Being Hijacked

Aviation accidents are extremely rare, making airplanes the safest way to travel compared to other modes of transport. Hence why last Thursday’s (Aug 17) tragic airplane crash at Shah Alam was so shocking.. With 10 lives confirmed dead, we wish our sincerest condolences to the loved ones of the victims during this difficult period.

Despite the fact that airplanes are generally safer, of course it’s not impossible for such accidents to occur. This brings up another one of the nation’s horrific story of the first ever recorded deadly crash and hijacking incident for The Malaysian Airline System (MAS) that took place in the year 1977. 

MAS’s MH653 was the airline’s first ever airplane crash on Malaysian soil, and also the deadliest. The crash happened during a time when aviation safety precautions were less strict compared to now. What makes this crash even more heartbreaking is that many details of it still remain unanswered to this day.

Scroll further to read the facts and theories about the demise of MH653 that was scheduled to safely land in Kuala Lumpur after taking off from Pulau Pinang.

1.Both pilots were shot dead and plane crashed soon after

The Boeing 737-200 airplane was on a short domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur with a total of 100 people onboard, 93 were passengers from various countries while 7 were part of the crew.

What was supposed to be a straightforward domestic flight turned deadly when a hijacker entered the cockpit and forced the pilots to land in Singapore instead.

As the aircraft continues the journey towards Singapore, it carried out unusual pitch up and pitch down movements before disappearing from radar.

On its descent into Singapore Paya Lebar Airport, for no clear reasons, both pilots, first the Co-pilot, Kamarulzaman Jalil and then the Captain, G. K Ganjoor were shot dead.

With no one skilled manning the airplane, the aircraft spiraled into a swampy ground of Tanjung Kupang, Johor that was close to Singapore’s borders.

2. All 100 lives onboard perished during the crash

The aircraft slammed at a nearly vertical angle into the swamp with immense speed, utterly disintegrating and triggering a massive explosion.

Search and rescue teams hurried to the scene to look for survivors, but all they discovered were the scattered, dismembered remains of corpses and personal belongings, some even on trees.

This was the deadliest hijacking and plane crash in Malaysia as none of the 100 passengers and crew members survived.

3. A memorial was built at Tanjung Kupang 

To honour those who died, a memorial was erected at the Tanjung Kupang Memorial Park. As it was even difficult to identify the parts of bodies at the scene, the Malaysian government chose to bury the victims’ remains in a mass grave.

Religious leaders from several religions were gathered at the burial. At Jalan Kebun Teh, the mass burial is now known as the Tanjung Kupang memorial. The Johor State Government erected the Taman Peringatan Tanjung Kupang memorial on December 8, 1977, barely four days after the disaster.

4. Identity and motive of the hijacker remains unknown till today

An official investigator from the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of England that aided the investigations of this tragedy actually talked about this case years later unprompted during an unrelated interview with Captain Kamil Abu Bakar, who used to be the director of flight operations for MAS.

The statements of this anonymous AAIB investigator were retold by Captain Kamil.

“Honestly we don’t know what actually happened. One thing for sure, both pilots were shot. But we don’t know who was the hijacker. We were not certain even if there were more than one hijacker on board. We don’t know their identity, nor do we know their motive. Very strange”, said the AAIB official.

The official accident report concluded that “the aircraft crashed after both pilots were shot by unknown person for no apparent reason, leaving the aircraft not professionally flown”.

5. Theories of the hijacking transpired due to several VIPs onboard

Speculation has it that the presence of high-profile passengers may have been the reason the flight was hijacked.

Among the passengers on the flight were Agriculture Minister Ali Haji Ahmad, Public Works Department head Mahfuz Khalid, the Cuban ambassador to Malaysia, Mario Garcia, two American World Bank officers and even former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Hussein Onn’s nephew, Onn Jaafar who was also onboard as he was part of the cabin crew.

Malaysians at that time theorized that the hijacking included the involvement of terrorists from the Japanese Red Army (JRA) who are a group of communist militants that aimed to overthrow of the Japanese government, monarchy and to ignite a world revolution. The JRA was active in the 1970s and even conducted acts of terror in Malaysia like the AIA Building hostage in 1975.

But this theory was heavily denied by Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie, the Home Minister at that time.

There is no definitive answer to who the hijacker is or even the exact number of how many hijackers were actually present and involved.

Despite the theories and speculations, there is simply not enough evidence available for a definite answer.

Maybe one day Malaysian officials will eventually admit that they were aware of the hijacker’s identity all along or maybe their identity will always remain unknown forever…

Whatever the case, we continuously wish the families of the victims well and that they are able to find their own peace after this horrific tragedy. 

Also Read: JUST IN: Light Aircraft Heading to Subang Crashes in Shah Alam, Multiple Deaths Reported