Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which was carrying mostly Chinese tourists from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, mysteriously disappeared somewhere over the Indian Ocean.

And with the world still reeling from that tragedy, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky while flying over eastern Ukraine.

Some 239 souls were on board MH370 when it vanished, and 298 were killed when MH17 was shot down.

These were not the first such incidents in the history of the Malaysian aviation industry.

On Dec 4, 1977, a domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur was hijacked by unidentified individuals.

It would later crash into a swamp at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, with no survivors. To this day, the circumstances surrounding the disaster remain a mystery.

What is known is that Malaysian Airline System Flight MH653 departed from Runway 22 of Penang International Airport at 7.21pm.

It was carrying 93 passengers and seven crew members, piloted by Captain GK Ganjoor and First Officer Kamarulzaman Jalil.

The two were experienced flyers, Ganjoor having 15,500 hours of flying time under his belt and the 25-year-old Kamarulzaman 1,865 hours.

Among the passengers on the flight were Agriculture Minister Ali Haji Ahmad, Public Works Department head Mahfuz Khalid, the Cuban ambassador to Malaysia Mario Garcia and two American World Bank officers.

Speculation has it that the presence of these high-profile passengers may have been the reason this flight was hijacked.

It was headed for Subang Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport) and had made contact with air traffic control by 7.47pm.

Flying at a height of 1,200m at 7.41pm, there was another plane in the area that noticed that MH653 seemed to be having problems making the descent.

The pilot of the plane contacted MH653, whose pilot simply and vaguely replied, “We have an emergency onboard.”

Alarmed, the concerned pilot informed Subang Airport which contacted MH653. This time the reply was “We have a hijacker on board.”

The theory is that the hijacker or hijackers broke down the cockpit door and seized control of the aeroplane. The Subang tower told MH653 to land quickly to allow security forces to secure the plane.

Two years before, the Japanese Red Army had seized the AIA Building in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, taking numerous hostages.

Fingers would be pointed at the terrorist organisation once again in the hijacking of Flight MH653.

In any case, whoever was flying MH653 at this point told the tower the plane was heading for Singapore, asking, “Understand? Message received?”

The cockpit voice recorder that would later be recovered from the crash site gave investigators some insight into what happened in the cockpit.

A discussion was heard between the hijackers and the pilots about how the plane did not have enough fuel to reach Singapore.

When the plane was close to Subang Airport, Ganjoor had asked the hijackers for permission to refuel, only to be denied.

During the flight to Singapore, an argument and a fight broke out in the cockpit, during which Ganjoor and Kamarulzaman are believed to have been shot dead.

After this, the cockpit fell silent and the autopilot was disconnected. Whoever was flying the plane was probably inexperienced as they soon lost control of the aircraft.

All communication with the plane was lost by 8.15pm and at about 8.36pm, residents of Kampung Ladang, Tanjung Kupang in Johor heard a loud explosion.

A police report stated that the plane was seen plummeting to the ground at a near 90º angle before exploding upon impact.

Police, fire department and medical personnel rushed to the site and arrived at about 10pm, with the Menteri Besar of Johor and the home affairs minister arriving later to inspect the site.

Among the disintegrated parts of MH653 and burnt luggage were human remains – no one had survived the crash.

The army searched for survivors nonetheless, but it became apparent there were none. It took more than three days for searchers to recover all the remains.

A mass interfaith funeral and burial were held in Kebun Teh, with final rites being led by imams, monks and priests.

Not much was left of the plane, with most of the wreckage embedded in the muddy swamp. The firearm used in the hijacking was never recovered, despite an extensive search.

So, what happened on MH653 on that fateful evening?

While most people lay the blame on the Japanese Red Army, there was a rumour at the time that a bodyguard of one of the VIPs had brought a firearm on board.

This remains disputed and unsubstantiated, however, and no one responsible for the incident has been charged or named.

There is a memorial at Kebun Teh, with the names of the dead engraved in stone in their everlasting memory.