Penang - Kuala Lumpur

On December 4, 1977 at 08:36 PM, Penang - Kuala Lumpur experienced a crash involving Boeing 737-200, operated by Malaysian Airlines System - MAS, with the event recorded near Jalan Tanjung Kupang Johor.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

100 people were known to be on board, 100 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 93, passenger fatalities: 93, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is terrorism act, hijacking, sabotage. The airplane departed Penang Airport at 1921LT on scheduled service MH653 to Kuala Lumpur. During the descent, while at an altitude of 4,000 feet, a hijacker entered the cockpit and forced the crew to divert to Singapore. The aircraft then climbed to FL210 and proceeded to Singapore when the hijacker shot both pilots and then himself. Few minutes later, the airplane entered a dive and crashed in a wooded area located in the region of Jalan Tanjung Kupang. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 100 occupants were killed. 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.

Aircraft reference details include registration 9M-MBD, MSN 20585/306, year of manufacture 1972.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 1.3791°, 103.5626°.