KOTA KINABALU: The Australian official findings into the Nomad crash that claimed the lives of former Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens and 10 others also found no indication of sabotage, as reported by their Malaysian counterparts earlier.
However, it highlighted issues concerning the pilot, who had complained to colleagues that he was tired and had stomach upset prior to the fatal flight. There were also loading issues raised.
It also reported the co-pilot seat was occupied by a passenger and that Sabah Air had been operating illegally at the material time as its operation manual draft was never approved by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) towards the end of 1975.
The report said the right wing of the aircraft momentarily dipped and rose to a level position, after which it entered a spin and lost height and crashed.