Balikpapan - Kuching

On November 29, 1980 at 12:00 AM, Balikpapan - Kuching experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou, operated by Royal Malaysian Air Force - Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia, with the event recorded near Simanggang Sarawak.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. En route from Balikpapan to Kuching, a warning light came on in the cockpit panel, indicating a low oil pressure on the left engine. The crew shut down the left engine and feathered its propeller. Due to bad weather in Kuching, the captain decided to divert to Simanggang where the airplane landed safely on one engine. After touchdown, the airplane decelerated and the pilot-in-command completed a 180 turn then a backtrack procedure when one of the landing gear went into a soft ground along the runway edge. After the left engine oil tank was filled, the crew took off for Kuching. After liftoff, during initial climb, a warning light came on in the cockpit panel, indicating a technical problem with the feathering system on the right engine. The airplane started to roll left and right then lost height and crashed in a jungle located 1,400 meters past the runway end. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact and all three crew members were injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration M21-12, MSN 280, year of manufacture 1969.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 1.2310°, 111.4555°.