ABOUT THE CRASH

THERE was little information except that the aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, on a flight from Haneda Airport, Tokyo, to Changi International Airport, Singapore, with stopovers at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Malaysia. Ten crew and 69 passengers were on board.

It was learnt from the Civil Aviation Department (DCA) that two hours into the flight, air traffic control at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport told Flight 715 to start its descent on runway 15.

The aircraft descended below the minimum descent altitude of 750ft, then at 300 ft, it crashed into the side of a hill, four miles from the airport. The aircraft broke on impact, with no fire.

The accident killed 34 people — eight crew and 26 passengers. Among the survivors are Maria and her mother, Salimah.

DCA’s investigation report stated: “At the time of the crash, the weather around the airport was poor and the aircraft was on a very high frequency omni-directional range radio navigation system for aircraft approach. The investigation determined that the cause of the accident was the captain descending below the minimum descent altitude without having the runway in sight, and continuing the descent, causing the aircraft to crash before reaching the airport. The flight crew’s loss of sight of the airport was due to bad weather, which also contributed to the accident. The first officer did not challenge the captain for violating the regulations.”