Garuda Indonesia - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

Since its first incident in 1950, Garuda Indonesia has had 12 fatal accidents and one hijacking. These are the major ones:

• On 16 February 1967, Garuda Indonesia Airways Flight 708 crashed on landing at Manado capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia killing 22 out of 84 passengers.
• On 28 May 1968, a Garuda Indonesia Convair 990 bound for Karachi, Pakistan crashed into the sea just after taking off from Bombay Santa Cruz airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport). All 29 people on board (15 passengers and 14 crew members) died. In addition, there was one casualty on the ground.
• On 7 September 1974, a Garuda Indonesia Fokker F-27 crashed on approach to Tanjung Karang-Branti Airport. The aircraft crashed short of the runway while on approach in limited visibility weather. The aircraft eventually struck buildings near the runway and caught fire, killing 33 out of 36 people on board (30 passengers and 3 crew members).
• On 24 September 1975, Garuda Indonesia Flight 150 crashed on approach to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport. The accident, which was attributed to poor weather and fog, killed 25 out of 61 passengers plus one person on the ground.
• On 11 July 1979, a Garuda Indonesia Fokker F-28 on a domestic flight hit a volcano on approach to Medan Airport, Indonesia, all 61 on board killed.
• On 28 March 1981, Garuda Indonesia Flight 206 a DC-9 aircraft on a domestic flight was hijacked.
• On 20 March 1982, a Garuda Indonesia Fokker F-28 on a domestic flight overran the runway at Tanjung Karang-Branti Airport in bad weather, all 27 were killed when the aircraft burst into flames.
• On 4 April 1987, Garuda Indonesia Flight 035, a Douglas DC-9, hit a pylon and crashed on approach to Medan Polonia International Airport in bad weather with 24 fatalities.
• On 13 June 1996, Garuda Indonesia Flight 865, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 departing Fukuoka, Japan overran the runway after aborting the takeoff well above rotation speed. The number-3 engine fuel line was severed, resulting in a massive fire and the total destruction of the rear end of the aircraft. Three of the 275 people on board were killed.
• On 26 September 1997, Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, an Airbus A300B4-220 aircraft flying from Jakarta, crashed in Sibolangit, 18 miles (29 km) short of Medan airport in low visibility, killing all 234 on board. It is the deadliest aviation incident in Indonesia.

• On 16 January 2002, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 was a Boeing 737–300 traveling from Lombok to Yogyakarta was forced to make an emergency landing in poor weather on the Bengawan Solo River, due to engine flameout caused by water and hail ingestion. One person, a stewardess, was killed in the accident; 59 other passengers and crew survived.
• On 6 September 2004, human rights activist Munir Said Thalib was bound for Amsterdam via Singapore on a Garuda flight when he was poisoned with arsenic during his flight transit in Singapore, or sometime near that time. A former Garuda Indonesia airline pilot was convicted. It was concluded from Munir's autopsy and eye witnesses during the trial, that he had died two hours before arrival in Schiphol, Amsterdam.
• On 7 March 2007, Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737–400 flying from Jakarta, crashed and burst into flames on landing at Adisucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta at 07.00 am. 21 people were killed.