List of Garuda Indonesia accidents and incidents

This is a list of incidents involving Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia. The airline suffered 49 incidents. ^[1]

Fatal accidents

1950s

17 November 1950

Douglas DC-3 PK-DPB overran the runway on landing at Juanda Airport Surabaya and crashed into a ditch, killing two of 23 on board. ^[2]

24 December 1959

Flight 330, a Douglas C-47A (PK-GDV) en route to Pangkal Pinang from Palembang, crashed in a swamp near Palembang while returning to the airport following engine failure, killing one of four crew. The pilot had descended too low in poor weather; the aircraft may also have been slightly overloaded. ^[3]

1960s

24 January 1961

Flight 424 , a Douglas C-47A (PK-GDI), disappeared while on a Jakarta-Bandung passenger service with 21 onboard; the wreckage was found four days later on the slope of Mount Burangrang, West Java with no survivors. The cause was blamed on pilot error. ^[4]

3 February 1961

Flight 542 , a Douglas C-47A (PK-GDY), disappeared over the Java Sea off Madura Island on a Surabaya–Balikpapan service with 26 on board; the wreckage has never been found. ^[5]

20 September 1963

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer PK-GTB crashed, killing 7. ^{[6] [nb 1]}

1 January 1966

Douglas C-47As PK-GDE and PK-GDU collided in mid-air while on approach to Palembang Airport, probably due to crew errors; both aircraft crashed in a swamp, killing all 34 on board both aircraft. ^{[7] [8]}

16 February 1967

Flight 708 , a Lockheed L-188C Electra PK-GLB 'Tjandi Borobudur', crashed on landing at Manado due to pilot error in bad weather, killing 22 of 92 on board.

28 May 1968

Flight 892 , a Convair 990A PK-GJA 'Pajajaran', crashed after takeoff from Bombay, India, killing all 29 people on board and one person on the ground. ^[9]

1970s

26 September 1972

Fokker F27-600 PK-GFP 'Sibayak' ^[10] banked right and crashed after climbing to 30 m (98 ft) following takeoff from Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta during a training flight, killing the three crew. ^[11]

7 September 1974

Fokker F27-600 PK-GFJ 'Semaru' ^[12] struck buildings while on approach to Branti Airport in Bandar Lampung, killing 33 of 36 people on board. ^[13]

4 December 1974

Martinair Flight 138 (PH-MBH) Leased to Garuda Indonesian Airways for a Hajj flight crashed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing all 191 on board.

24 September 1975

Flight 150 , a Fokker F28-1000, crashed on approach to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang. The accident, which was attributed to poor weather and fog, killed 25 out of 61 passengers and one person on the ground.

15 November 1978

Loftleiðir Flight 001 (TF-FLA) Leased to Garuda Indonesian Airways for a Hajj flight crashed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183 out of 262 on board.

6 March 1979

Flight 553, a Fokker F28-1000 PK-GVP 'Sambas', struck Mount Bromo (near Probolinggo, East Java) while on a positioning flight from Denpasar to Surabaya, killing the four crew. ^[14]

11 July 1979

Fokker F28-1000 PK-GVE struck Mount Sibayak on approach to Medan Airport, killing all 61 on board. ^[15]

1980s

20 March 1982

Fokker F28-1000 PK-GVK overran the runway at Tanjung Karang-Branti Airport in Bandar Lampung during bad weather. The aircraft subsequently burst into flames killing all 27 people on board.

2 June 1983

Fokker F28-3000RC PK-GFV 'Selegan' overran the runway on takeoff from Branti Airport after failing to lift off as a result of crew error, killing three of 61 onboard. ^[16]

4 April 1987

Flight 035 , a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, hit a pylon and crashed on approach to Polonia International Airport in Medan during bad weather due to possible wind shear, killing 23 of 45 on board. ^[17]

1990s

13 June 1996

Flight 865 , a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, overran the runway at Fukuoka Airport, Japan after aborting takeoff following an uncontained failure of engine three. Three of the 275 people on board were killed. ^[18] The crash was blamed on pilot error and improper maintenance.

26 September 1997

Flight 152 , an Airbus A300B4-220, crashed near the village of Buah Nabar in Sibolangit, 18 miles (29 km) short of Medan Airport in low visibility, killing all 234 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation incident in Indonesia. ^[19]

2000s

16 January 2002

Flight 421 , a Boeing 737-3Q8 en route from Lombok to Yogyakarta was forced to make an emergency landing but finally crashed in poor weather on the Solo River, due to an engine flameout caused by water and hail ingestion. A flight attendant was killed in the accident. ^[20]

7 March 2007

Flight 200 , a Boeing 737-400 flying from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, overran the runway on landing at Adisutjipto International Airport, Yogyakarta. 21 people were killed when the aircraft burst into flames. ^[21]

Non-fatal accidents

15 March 1952

Convair CV-240-23 PK-GCH collided in mid-air with Douglas C-47A PK-RCR; both aircraft landed safely with no casualties. ^{[22] [23]}

10 December 1958

de Havilland Heron 1B PK-GHP was written off at Jakarta; no casualties. ^[24]

29 December 1961

Douglas C-47A PK-GDZ crashed near Surabaya. ^[25]

27 February 1962

Convair CV-240-23 PK-GCB was written off at Palembang. ^[26]

5 April 1962

Douglas C-47A PK-GDM burned out at Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta. ^[27]

17 August 1962

Convair CV-240-23 PK-GCE was written off at Ambon. ^[28]

4 May 1963

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 3 PK-GTC was written off during takeoff. ^[29]

20 September 1981

A McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (PK-GNJ) "Porong", made an emergency landing due to engine failure. During landing, both left rear tires burst, causing the tire rims to scrape the runway. The aircraft was repaired and back to service. All 38 passengers and crew survived. ^[30]

21 June 1993

Flight 630, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (PK-GNT), landed hard at Ngurah Rai Airport due to pilot error, causing serious damage to the aircraft; all 79 on board survived. ^[31]

16 March 2013

While parked at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Boeing 737-5U3 PK-GGA was struck by a maintenance dock on the right side of the nose during a storm; no casualties. The 737 and a GECAS Airbus A320 (N620SC) were parked opposite hangar No. 3 when two maintenance docks were blown across the ramp, striking the aircraft; the 737 was written off. The accident was also reported to have occurred on March 15. ^[32]

Hijackings

5 September 1977

A McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 was hijacked by one man who held a flight attendant at gunpoint, but was then overpowered by the crew. The aircraft then landed at Surabaya where the hijacker was taken into custody but never revealed his motive behind the hijacking. ^[33]

28 March 1981

Flight 206 , operated by McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 PK-GNJ, was hijacked on a domestic flight from Palembang to Medan by five members of Komando Jihad. The hijackers demanded to be flown to Sri Lanka, but the aircraft did not have enough fuel and diverted to Penang in Malaysia to refuel, and then flew to Bangkok. The hijackers demanded the release of 84 political prisoners in Indonesia who were imprisoned following a terrorist attack on a police station. On the third day of the hijacking (31 March) was stormed by Indonesian Kopassus commandos, surprising the hijackers, who opened fire on the commandos. They returned fire, killing three hijackers. One of the commandos was shot, probably by his comrades, as was the pilot, also probably by Indonesian commandos. The rest of the hostages were released unharmed. Two of the hijackers surrendered to the Thai commandos, but were killed by Indonesian commandos on the plane taking them back to Jakarta. ^{[34] [35]}

26 May 1994

A Vietnamese asylum seeker being repatriated from an Indonesian refugee camp attempted to hijack a Garuda Indonesia charter flight. Shortly after takeoff from Batam, the man took out a gasoline-filled shampoo bottle, splashed gasoline near the cockpit door, and threatened to light himself on fire unless the flight diverted to Australia. A Garuda mechanic and other asylum seekers overpowered the man and the flight continued to Vietnam, where the man was taken into custody upon arrival. ^[36]

Miscellaneous

7 September 2004

Human rights activist Munir Said Thalib was murdered on Flight 974, bound for Amsterdam. ^[37] Garuda's CEO at the time, Indra Setiawan, his deputy Rohainil Aini, and pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto were all convicted of his murder. ^{[38] [39]} Garuda was found negligent in failing to perform an emergency landing and was ordered to pay compensation to Munir's widow, ^[40] but did not do so immediately. ^[41]

Notes

1. Some sources state the aircraft crashed on landing on 20 April.

References

1. "Garuda Indonesia Airways incidents and accidents". Aviation Safety Network.
2. Accident descriptionfor PK-DPB at the Aviation Safety Network
3. Accident descriptionfor PK-GDV at the Aviation Safety Network
4. Accident descriptionfor PK-GDI at the Aviation Safety Network
5. Accident descriptionfor PK-GDY at the Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved on 11 December 2012.
6. Accident descriptionfor PK-GTB at the Aviation Safety Network
7. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
8. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
9. Accident descriptionfor PK-GJA at the Aviation Safety Network
10. "PK-GFP". rzjets.net. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
11. Accident descriptionfor PK-GFP at the Aviation Safety Network
12. "PK-GFJ". rzjets.net. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
13. Accident descriptionfor PK-GFJ at the Aviation Safety Network
14. Accident descriptionfor PK-GVP at the Aviation Safety Network
15. Accident descriptionfor PK-GVE at the Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved on 7 July 2011.
16. Accident descriptionfor PK-GFV at the Aviation Safety Network
17. Accident descriptionfor PK-GNQ at the Aviation Safety Network
18. "Air Disasters – 1996 Crash". Airdisaster.com. 13 June 1996. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
19. "Air Disasters – 1997 Crash". Airdisaster.com. 26 September 1997. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
20. "Air Disasters – 2002 Crash". Airdisaster.com. 16 January 2002. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
21. Daily Telegraph March 2007 Crash Archived 1 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
22. Accident descriptionfor PK-GCH at the Aviation Safety Network
23. Accident descriptionfor PK-RCR at the Aviation Safety Network
24. Accident descriptionfor PK-GHP at the Aviation Safety Network
25. Accident descriptionfor PK-GDZ at the Aviation Safety Network
26. Accident descriptionfor PK-GCB at the Aviation Safety Network
27. Accident descriptionfor PK-GCH at the Aviation Safety Network
28. Accident descriptionfor PK-GCE at the Aviation Safety Network
29. Accident descriptionfor PK-GTC at the Aviation Safety Network
30. "25 Tahun Pengabdian Douglas DC-9". Aviation History of Indonesia (in Indonesian). 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
31. Accident descriptionfor PK-GNT at the Aviation Safety Network
32. Accident descriptionfor PK-GGA at the Aviation Safety Network
33. Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network
34. Conboy, Ken (2004). Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces. Equinox Publishing. pp. 277–278. ISBN   978-9799589880.
35. "Hijacking description : Saturday, 28 March 1981". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
36. Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network
37. Spaeth, Anthony (6 December 2004). "Death in Flight 974: Who was responsible for the poisoning of one of Indonesia's bravest human rights advocates?". Time. p. 28.
38. "Pilot guilty of activist murder". BBC. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
39. "Denied letter, activists to push to reopen Munir case". Jakarta Post. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
40. "Judicial Commission tells Garuda to pay". Jakarta Post. 20 February 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
41. "Court summons Garuda over Munir death compensation". Jakarta Post. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.