Hijacked MAS flight MH 653 on 4th December 1977
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Hijacked MAS flight MH 653 on 4th December 1977
Hi guys,
Now that the Jet Airways Recruitment in Malaysia has been closed, I would like to start this one to commemorate the tragic events leading to this incident and the equally sad events that followed.
Wooblah, Sireh, MAStake, MASsenger and others who do remember the incident kindy contribute ...this is the 30th anniversary. The posts in the Jet Airways Recruitment in Malaysia thread did bring out info concerning this event which was hushed up. That post WAS NOT HIJACKED; CommanderRiker did get some good contacts which should be useful to him and I hope he keeps us posted on his exploratory trip to India. MORE IMPORTANTLY he was PRE-WARNED about the hazards of dealing with the shady, sly but highly questionable bloke who tried to dupe Jet Airways wannabees with his promise of personal contacts and fast tracking.
So guys, keep it coming.
Now that the Jet Airways Recruitment in Malaysia has been closed, I would like to start this one to commemorate the tragic events leading to this incident and the equally sad events that followed.
Wooblah, Sireh, MAStake, MASsenger and others who do remember the incident kindy contribute ...this is the 30th anniversary. The posts in the Jet Airways Recruitment in Malaysia thread did bring out info concerning this event which was hushed up. That post WAS NOT HIJACKED; CommanderRiker did get some good contacts which should be useful to him and I hope he keeps us posted on his exploratory trip to India. MORE IMPORTANTLY he was PRE-WARNED about the hazards of dealing with the shady, sly but highly questionable bloke who tried to dupe Jet Airways wannabees with his promise of personal contacts and fast tracking.
So guys, keep it coming.
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Hi all,
I wasn't in MAS then but read about it in the papers. Later in the MAS SEP classes we heard audio playback of the CVR of that flight. It was scary. I really feel for the families of the victims. Years later as I was a copilot, I heard about the sad events that happened to the skipper's widow being conned by bhai..it was so shocking that the creep could stoop so low!
I wasn't in MAS then but read about it in the papers. Later in the MAS SEP classes we heard audio playback of the CVR of that flight. It was scary. I really feel for the families of the victims. Years later as I was a copilot, I heard about the sad events that happened to the skipper's widow being conned by bhai..it was so shocking that the creep could stoop so low!
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perhaps somebody could step up and rewrite the entry on wikipedia about the doomed flight. Not many people outside aviation circles know exactly what happened. If we wanted to go public and reopen this story, some SB will come to our place and get us detained under ISA. this forum will be a good place for us to start.
wooby last post on the doomed jet airways recruitment should be reposted here.
wooby last post on the doomed jet airways recruitment should be reposted here.
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Good thread.Would be nice for true story to see the light of day.
http://www.mbceo.com/science/more_in...nes_Flight_653
http://www.mbceo.com/science/more_in...nes_Flight_653
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Wow bfd, that is a wonderful picture and link but the story in the link about Japanese accent and the Japanese hijacker is utter baloney. However the picture really make me well up and sent shivers down my spine. Oh how many times had I thumped the poor beauty down KUL ( Subang ) runways 15/33 and the few times I managed by fluke to grease her down onto runways 04/22 PEN, 02/20 BKI etc; what nostalgia.
Oh, post accident emotions ran high. Ya Kamarulzaman was engaged to be married and it really was Babu's wedding anniversary. All kinds of tribute poured in and months later we were helping families of lost colleagues come to terms with the tragedy.
Oh, post accident emotions ran high. Ya Kamarulzaman was engaged to be married and it really was Babu's wedding anniversary. All kinds of tribute poured in and months later we were helping families of lost colleagues come to terms with the tragedy.
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Kudos to the original photographer.
I didn't intend to illuminate the true story. The link merely provides the popular story for those who have not heard about the tragic events. Others have posted much more insighful information.
Regards
I didn't intend to illuminate the true story. The link merely provides the popular story for those who have not heard about the tragic events. Others have posted much more insighful information.
Regards
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Cheers, Sireh. You must really like Babu, your user name is the stuff he chewed day in and day out. Those crimson red lips with the beard, what a sight! Babu was a consummate pilot and eventhough he was a foreigner, we all accepted him as one of us and regaled at his jokes and card tricks. The night stops with him in PEN and the joyous times sampling the food near Chowrasta were sure great memories. Despite his wifey's misgivings he even learn to enjoy bahkut teh! Yum, yum! We lost a good man, but alas I was also a lowly F/O then finding my footing and I wished I could have done more, especially knowing how his poor family was misled regarding the insurance.
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I have some relatives working in the SB and UTK and they do confirm most of Hassan Bok's account in th thread, Jet Airways Recruitment in Malaysia. So go to that thread and read it up. It is nice that this thread is started now that this is the 30th anniverary and Malaysia is turning 50! Malaysia Boleh!
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Just a curious visitor new to this SEAsian thing; what is SB and UTK? I remember in another life with an Asian carrier this incident was related to me by an ex-MAS skipper and had led to some innovative anti-hijack procedures! It's not prudent to outline those procedures but they were highly innovative. However in this post 911 aviation world they migh have become archaic.
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Barney, SB means Special Branch , the much feared special secret investigation and interrogation unit of the police department. Any visit by the SB truly sparks fear to the average person and political and social dissidents are known to be the whipping boys and lab rats of this unit. SB can be loosely compared to MI6 or FBI. The UTK stands for Unit Tindakan Khas, literally the Special Action Unit akin to the special forces or SWAT teams. They are usually deployed in hostage taking situations, hijackings or even extreme riot control in conjunction with the Police Field Force.
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Discovery will still have to toe the official line and come up with something like the Jap Red Army nonsense, otherwise they will be banned from Bolehland and taken off the air.
I understand that initially the families of the victims had problems with insurance claims but later the finance ministry stepped in whereafter the claims were settled. Of course I believe the quantum was less than they deserved but enough to make it no longer finacially viable to contest further.
I understand that initially the families of the victims had problems with insurance claims but later the finance ministry stepped in whereafter the claims were settled. Of course I believe the quantum was less than they deserved but enough to make it no longer finacially viable to contest further.
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One of the most heartening act of the Hussein Onn administration then was to invite a Jewish rabbi to administer the last rites to a Jewish passenger amongst the victim. He joined the Muslim imams, Buddhist, Taoist, Catholic priests as well as ministers from the other Christian denominations in the ceremony as all the victims' remains were interned at a mass grave since no intact bodies were found. It was really a very forward looking and wise move, much appreciated by sensible Malaysians except for the narrow minded bigots who later mounted the infamous ayatollah coup de'tat almost 2 decades later. Despite this great gesture few amongst the foreign mainstream media pick on its virtue.
Before MAS fell into the clutches of the pseudo religious bigots, the people there were very tolerant and amiable to the sensible expat pilots except the overbearing tyrants. Babu was well liked and treated as a close family member in MAS flight operations. We certainly lost a good friend and the loss was made worse when it was later revealed that that his family was betrayed and scammed by one of our fellows. I know I may get banned from this thread, but we should all treat that piece of work like a pariah to be shunned at all cost. In that way we can all be true to the memory of good old Babu.
Before MAS fell into the clutches of the pseudo religious bigots, the people there were very tolerant and amiable to the sensible expat pilots except the overbearing tyrants. Babu was well liked and treated as a close family member in MAS flight operations. We certainly lost a good friend and the loss was made worse when it was later revealed that that his family was betrayed and scammed by one of our fellows. I know I may get banned from this thread, but we should all treat that piece of work like a pariah to be shunned at all cost. In that way we can all be true to the memory of good old Babu.
Last edited by taufupok; 1st Aug 2007 at 02:23.
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Those who are still with MAS can probably visit the MAS library and request for the newpaper cuttings in the archives. Of course the paper will have the official line but the post accident reports on how the families coped with their grieve will give you an idea of the sentiments then. There was a profile on Babu and Kamarulzaman as well as the cabin crew as well.
The mass burial was covered at length, and yes there was a rabbi in attendance.
The mass burial was covered at length, and yes there was a rabbi in attendance.
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Hi all,
Had talk with a retired reporter who said there were 2 other theories regarding this hijack.
1) Some Cuban dissidents hijacked the aircraft because the embassador
from Cuba was on board.
2) Vietnamese militants took hold of the aircraft after Singapore detained
3 of their compatriots following the hijack of Air Vietnam DC3.
So MAS veterans, have any idea how far these possible theories go?
Had talk with a retired reporter who said there were 2 other theories regarding this hijack.
1) Some Cuban dissidents hijacked the aircraft because the embassador
from Cuba was on board.
2) Vietnamese militants took hold of the aircraft after Singapore detained
3 of their compatriots following the hijack of Air Vietnam DC3.
So MAS veterans, have any idea how far these possible theories go?
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Today being double 8 date, a year from the supposedly auspicious 8/8/8 should be a good day to remember our fallen colleagues. To the young uns in MAS, if you care to ask around, you will probably find veterans willing to fill you in on this tragic flight.
The gallant crew members were,
Technical aircrew :
Captain G K Ganjoor ( aka Babu )
F/O Kamarulzaman Jalil
Cabin crew :
Sharifah
Sidah Syed Mohammad
Azian Borhanuddin
Karim Tahir
Onn Jaafar
Of course not forgetting the innocent ones amongst the esteemed passengers who chose air travel with our then fledging flag carrier.
Though tragic, we honour their place in Malaysian history.
The gallant crew members were,
Technical aircrew :
Captain G K Ganjoor ( aka Babu )
F/O Kamarulzaman Jalil
Cabin crew :
Sharifah
Sidah Syed Mohammad
Azian Borhanuddin
Karim Tahir
Onn Jaafar
Of course not forgetting the innocent ones amongst the esteemed passengers who chose air travel with our then fledging flag carrier.
Though tragic, we honour their place in Malaysian history.
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Hi bakutteh, Sireh, Hassan and like minded ones, I think you're wasting your time. The MAS crowd are too busy with their mundane lives to bother about this event. Maybe their former PM was right when he lamented that " melayu senang lupa ". You guys are probably contemporaries and good friends of the poor fallen crew and cherish the memories. The rest just shrug off the whole thing and some might even had been guilty of cheering on that perpetrator of shame on his conquest. Sad. Sigh!
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Maybe not so Raj.There are some of us who have gained a lot of knowledge from this thread.
We can empathize, after all we are pilots as well.
I am too far down the line, to have had the honor of knowing, or knowing of our late colleagues.
I was around though, to experience a little bit of the other person featured here.
Since reading this post I have even got that date and flight number repeating in my head.
I have called a few friends up and talked about it. I know who the crew was now, and I have even observed a moment of silence in respect and in honor of our late colleagues.
Thank you early ones for enlightening us.