DAP calls for independent commission of inquiry as to whether there is any truth in the British media allegations that MAS  had compromised the safety of its passengers with its dangerous  low-fuel practices

(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): A week ago, I called for the resignation of Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister for refusing to come clean and truthfully over the serious allegations  of  MAS compromising the safety of passengers with its dangerous low-fuel policy.

Liong Sik had at first categorically denied British media reports early last month that MAS had flown "on empty" into London with "just over three tonnes - the equivalent of a car running on a pint of petrol" which breached the minimum fuel requirements of British aviation regulations and then later admitting that it was a MAS aircraft after all.

Liong Sik later contended however that  the MAS aircraft, which had 3.6 tonnes of fuel on board when it landed at the Heathrow Airport, though lower than the minimum reserve fuel stipulated by the British authorities, i.e. 4.5 tonnes, was enough to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation requirements.

Last weekend, MAS flew six Malaysian newsmen to London to prove that its fuel policy is  in line with international standards that require commercial aircraft have not  less than 30 minutes of fuel on touch down.

The  MAS fleet management  chief pilot, Captain Abdul Wahab Ibrahim said at 30 minutes, a 747-400 which services the KL-London  route, would have between 3.7 tonnes and 4.2 tonnes of fuel depending on  the aircraft weight.

 He said on the KL-London route, MAS had only on two occasions came  close to the 30 minutes trigger point.  The first occasion was due to a problem with the fuel quantity indicator while  the second was a result of delayed time in reading the fuel indicator since it  was recorded at the parking bay after fuel was burnt for several minutes.

The MAS explanation  is most surprising, as Captain Abdul Wahab was denying that  no MAS aircraft had ever had less than 30 minutes of fuel on touchdown - i.e. between 3.7 tonnes and 4.2 tonnes depending on the aircraft weight - when Liong Sik had admitted that the MAS aircraft concerned had only 3.6 tonnes.

Although Captain Abdul Wahab had described as baseless  British media reports that MAS had been flying into  London's Heathrow airport with insufficient fuel in the past 30 months, the question is why MAS had not demanded retraction and apology by the British media or filed defamation suits against the British press for besmirching its reputation as having compromised the safety of passengers and the public by consistently indulging in dangerous low-fuel practices just to cut costs and maximise profits.

 I do not know how the issue of whether MAS aircrafts had compromised the safety of passengers by dangerous low-fuel practices could be put to rest by carrying six journalists on the KL-London route.

What Malaysians demand is not a P.R. exercise by MAS, but a full and independent report on the allegations which had appeared in the British media, on issues such as whether it is true:
 

• That on 5th July last year, an MAS Boeing 747-400 broadcast a "Pan" emergency call, declaring a fuel shortage as it approached London, and the full facts of this incident.
• That the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority investigations had uncovered 10 other incidents of MAS aircraft breaking fuel regulations, giving full details of these incidents.
• That on  22nd February 1999 senior staff from the UK Civil Aviation Authority Safety Regulation Group flew to Kuala Lumpur where they "received assurances" from Malaysian aviation authorities that the situation would be corrected.
• That  for more than two years, MAS pilots "have been under orders to carry minimal fuel when weather conditions are favourable, to save on costs".
• That MAS pilots were "constantly bombarded with notices and, occasionally, telephone calls from fleet managers in Malaysia for taking more than the minimum fuel as calculated by the company on a mass print-out navigation log for the route in question and which took no account of weather/loads/timing".

As MAS is accused of having practised dangerous low-fuel policy which compromised the safety of its passengers, and dare not file legal action against the British media to clear its name, and the Civil Aviation Authority and the Transport Ministry have been strangely quiet on the subject, DAP calls  for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry  to ascertain whether there is any basis in the  allegations in the British media  that MAS had compromised the safety of its passengers with its dangerous low-fuel policy.

My call to Liong Sik to resign as Transport Minister remains as he has again shown that he had failed to uphold the public interest, in this case, to get to the bottom of the British media allegations that MAS had compromised by safety of its passengers with its dangerous low-fuel policy.

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