‘Dr M’s plane not sabotaged’

THE Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia says it’s wrong to make allegation for the sake of political gain.

THE Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has found no evidence that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s private plane, which was supposed to fly him to Langkawi, was sabotaged.

CAAM chairman Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the aircraft was unable to fly due to air leakage from the left-hand nose wheel, which was a minor and routine technical fault.

He said allegations of sabotage were serious and could impact the reputation of Malaysia’s aviation industry and the country.

“It is wrong to make allegations for the sake of political gain,” he said yesterday.

On Friday, Dr Mahathir claimed the aircraft that was to fly him from Subang to Langkawi was sabotaged.

He claimed that the pilot cancelled the flight just before take off after realising that the aircraft had a problem and immediate repairs could not be done.

Following the allegation, the government ordered a probe into the matter.

Azharuddin said the aircraft, a Bombardier Challenger CL60, was registered under Malta tail number 9H-VFD and operated by Vista Jet Limited.

He said CAAM conducted an investigation, including the verification of the aircraft’s documentation, physical inspection of the aircraft, and interviews with pilots and maintenance personnel of Dr Mahathir’s private aircraft.

“The aircraft’s documentation showed no recent reported defect, except for air leakage from the left-hand nose wheel, which was logged in yesterday.

“CAAM was informed by maintenance personnel that they found the pressure of the lefthand nose wheel to be low. They serviced the tyre, but the pressure was still dropping at 2psi per minute.

“However, they could not replace the tyre as there were no spares.”

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday said he had ordered an investigation into claims that the plane was sabotaged.

Zahid, who is home minister, said he ordered police to investigate.

“Yesterday (on Friday), I was told that Dr Mahathir’s flight to Langkawi experienced a flat tyre, but he claimed that there was sabotage.

“He changed his flight, but he claimed that it was also sabotaged as his flight was blocked,” he said after handing his nomination form to the Election Commissioner at Dewan Gemilang, SM Sains Bagan Datuk in Perak.

“We will ensure that enforcement agencies serve all, including Dr Mahathir, at the highest level. I hope such accusations are not true.”