The first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines...

34 years back....on the evening of 4 December 1977....the deadliest and first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly. 

Date              : 4 December 1977
Type              : Hijacking, unsolved crash
Site                : Tanjung Kupang, Johor,Malaysia
Passengers     : 93
Crew              : 7
Injuries           : 0
Fatalities        : 100 (all)
Aircraft type   : Boeing 737-2H6
Operator         : Malaysia Airlines
Tail number     : 9M-MBD
Flight origin     : Penang International Airport
Last stopover   : Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
Destination      : Singapore International Airport (Paya Lebar)

Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 (MH653), a Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft registered as 9M-MBD (delivered September 1972 as 9M-AQO), crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, in Malaysia on the evening of 4 December 1977. It was the deadliest and first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly. The flight was apparently hijacked as soon as it reached cruise altitude. The circumstances in which the hijacking and subsequent crash occurred remain unsolved.

Currently, Malaysia Airlines uses flight 653 as a flight from Penang to Singapore which operates daily, departs 13:15 and arrives at 14:35. The opposite is flight 652 as a flight from Singapore to Penang which operates daily, departs 11:05 and arrives at 12:25.

Flight MH653 departed Penang's Runway 22 at exactly 19:21 hours for Kuala Lumpur's Subang Airport (now known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport). Passengers included the Malaysian Agricultural Minister, Dato' Ali Haji Ahmad; Public Works Department Head, Dato' Mahfuz Khalid; and Cuban Ambassador to Japan, Mario García. The pilot in command was Captain G.K. Ganjoor.

At approximately 19:54 hours, while at an altitude of 4,000 feet over Batu Arang and descending toward Subang's Runway 33, captain G.K. Ganjoor reported an "unidentified hijacker" onboard to Subang Tower. The tower immediately notified the authorities, who made emergency preparations at the airport.

A few minutes later, however, Captain Ganjoor radioed: "We're now proceeding to Singapore...". Flight MH653 never touched down at Singapore.

The cockpit voice recordings indicate noises suggestive of the cockpit door being broken in, along with a reasonable amount of screaming and cursing. No noises are heard from within the cockpit to indicate any of the three occupants were conscious.

The autopilot was then disconnected, possibly due to a pitch input by someone entering the cockpit and trying to control the aircraft. An investigator speculated that someone pulled back on the column, causing a pitch up, followed by an oscillation. This rapidly developed into a high amplitude phugoid oscillation that resulted in a rapid dive.

At 20:15 hours, all communication with flight MH653 was lost.

At 20:36 hours, the residents of Kampong Ladang, Tanjong Kupang in Johor reported hearing explosions and seeing burning wreckage in a swamp. The wreckage was later identified as Flight MH653. The plane hit the ground at a near-vertical angle at a very high speed. There were no survivors and not one recognizable body was found.

Some speculate that the Japanese Red Army was responsible for the hijacking, although no further evidence to support this hypothesis has come forward.

All recovered remains were x-rayed in an attempt to discover evidence of a projectile or weapon. No weapon or bullet was ever found. The remains of the victims were interred in a mass burial.

Credit to : wikipedia.