Garuda Indonesia Flight 421
Adisucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta | |
Occupants | 60 |
---|---|
Passengers | 54 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 1 (flight attendant) |
Injuries | 13 (1 serious) |
Survivors | 59 |
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Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by
Aircraft and crew
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Boeing_737-3Q8%2C_Garuda_Indonesia_JP6559933.jpg/220px-Boeing_737-3Q8%2C_Garuda_Indonesia_JP6559933.jpg)
The aircraft, a
Passengers
Nationality[3] | Passengers | Crew | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Killed | Survived | Total | Killed | Survived | Total | Killed | Survived | |
Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Indonesia | 48 | 0 | 48 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 1 | 53 |
Italy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Norway | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Thailand | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 54 | 0 | 54 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 60 | 1 | 59 |
Accident
As the Boeing 737-300 aircraft was on approach to its destination, the pilots were confronted with substantial thunderstorm activity visible ahead and on their onboard
Evacuation and rescue
Only two doors were available for evacuation. Residents of nearby villages assisted. Uninjured passengers and their personal belongings were temporarily sheltered in a nearby empty house, while injured passengers were transported by an available vehicle to the nearest clinic.[4] After evacuation, the pilot contacted the Jogja Tower via cellphone and reported the emergency landing and location. The rescue team arrived about two hours later and all remaining passengers and crew were taken safely to a hospital.
Aircraft damage and injuries
There was severe damage to the submerged aircraft belly, especially near the tail, leading to the inference that it landed nose high with tail impacting the shallow river bed, which ripped away the cabin floor together with the two flight attendants seated there. Both were found with severe injuries in the river behind the aircraft, and one did not survive. Twelve passengers suffered injuries, while the flight crew and other two flight attendants were injured. The aircraft was written off as a total loss, making the accident the 11th hull loss and eighth fatal accident involving the Boeing 737-300.[5]
NTSC investigation and report
The final report of the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) notes that pilot training in the interpretation of weather radar images was not formal, being given only during flight training. It is considered possible that the precipitation was so dense that it attenuated the radar signals, reducing the reflections that usually indicate precipitation and making such high density appear to be a clearer path. Had the crew manipulated the radar tilt to sweep the ground during descent, they would have been aware of the risks associated with the chosen flight path. Intense noise audible in data from the cockpit voice recorder as well as damage to the nose radome and engines indicate the presence of hail with the rain. The report concludes that the hail/water density exceeded the engine tolerance at flight idle, resulting in flameout.[2]
Remarks by U.S. NTSB
A later Safety Recommendation letter
Aftermath
Garuda Indonesia no longer operates this route in 2005. It still uses the flight number GA-421, but on the Denpasar – Jakarta route instead, operated by an Airbus A330 or a 777-300ER.[7] Garuda Indonesia also funded local road construction nearby the accident area and also built a multipurpose hall and reservoir facility in thanks for local villagers' assistance when evacuating.[8]
Dramatization
The crash was dramatized in the 16th season of the TV series
It is featured in season 1, episode 1, of the TV show Why Planes Crash.
See also
- TACA Flight 110 – Similar incident with same aircraft type, dual engine flameout when passing through thunderstorm
- US Airways Flight 1549 – Similar incident, dual engine flameout due to birdstrike leading to ditching
- Southern Airways Flight 242 – Similar incident involving a DC-9, dual engine flameout due to rain/ hail ingestion
- Water landing
- Emergency landing
- CFM56 engine design flaw – Engine flaw involving flameout after intake of heavy amounts of rain/ hail
References
- ^ "Garuda PK-GWA (Boeing 737 - MSN 24403)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ a b c "PT. Garuda Indonesia GA421, B737 PK-GWA, Bengawan Solo River, Serenan Village, Central Java, 16 January 2002" (PDF). Indonesia: National Transportation Safety Committee. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
- ^ Brummitt, Chris (2002-01-18). "Survivors recount plane crash in Indonesia". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- ^ AirCrashMayday (2017-01-16). "#OnThisDay in 2002, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 ditches in the Bengawan Solo River". AIRLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-3Q8 PK-GWA Yokyakarta". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
- ^ "Safety Recommendation, August 31, 2005" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 2005-08-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Show Schedule by Week". www.garuda-indonesia.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
- ^ "Mengenang Garuda GA421 Mendarat di Sungai Bengawan Solo [II]" [Commemorating Garuda GA421 Landing on the Solo River]. abarky.blogspot.com (in Indonesian). Indonesia Teknologi. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
- National Geographic Channel.