Garuda Indonesia Flight 892

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Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892
Eerste Garudavliegtuig op Schiphol, overzicht bij aankomst op voorgrond de heer , Bestanddeelnr 917-5906 (trimming).jpg
Pajajaran, the aircraft involved in the accident.
Accident
DateMay 28, 1968
SummaryCrashed shortly after takeoff due to fuel contamination
SiteBilalpada village, Vasai, India
Aircraft
Aircraft typeConvair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado
Aircraft namePajajaran
OperatorGaruda Indonesian Airways
RegistrationPK-GJA
Flight originKemayoran Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia
1st stopoverSingapore International Airport, Singapore
2nd stopoverDon Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
3rd stopoverBombay–Santa Cruz Airport, Bombay, India
4th stopoverJinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan
5th stopoverCairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
Last stopoverLeonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy
DestinationAmsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Occupants29
Passengers15
Crew14
Fatalities29
Survivors0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities1
Ground injuries17

Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 was a scheduled international passenger flight of Garuda Indonesian Airways (now Garuda Indonesia) from Kemayoran Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with intermediate stops in Singapore, Bangkok, Bombay (now Mumbai), Karachi, Cairo, and Rome.[1]

On the fourth segment of the flight from Bombay to Karachi on May 28, 1968, the Convair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado jet airliner operating the flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Bombay–Santa Cruz Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport). Debris from the aircraft fell around the village of Bilalpada, located around 32 mi (51 km) north of the airport.[2] The accident killed all 29 passengers and crew on board and also one person on the ground. Although the cause of the accident is not officially determined, the accident was likely caused by incorrect fuel loaded to the aircraft in Bombay. The accident was the first crash involving a Convair 990 Coronado aircraft to result in fatalities.[3][4]

Aircraft[]

The aircraft involved was a Convair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado with registration PK-GJA. This particular type of aircraft was the first jet airliner operated by Garuda Indonesian Airways, which also marks the airline's entry into the jet age. The aircraft was configured to carry up to 131 passengers and was given the name Pajajaran after the former capital city of the Sunda Kingdom in Indonesia. Powered by four General Electric CJ805-23B turbofan engines, the aircraft had manufacturer serial number 30-10-3 and was delivered to the airline on January 24, 1964.[5]

Accident[]

Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 landed at Bombay–Santa Cruz Airport from Bangkok at 01:45 a.m. IST (08:15 p.m. UTC, May 27). The flight made its third intermediate stop in Bombay to pick up more passengers, change on-duty crew members, and refuel the aircraft before continuing to Karachi. The flight was part of the airline's Jakarta–Singapore–Bangkok–Bombay–Karachi–Cairo–Rome–Amsterdam milk run. Eleven passengers were supposed to board the flight in Bombay, but five passengers canceled their tickets at the last minute, leaving the remaining six to get on board, and the flight was set to carry 15 passengers and 14 crew. The weather at Bombay–Santa Cruz Airport was reportedly clear when the flight departed Bombay that early morning.[2]

The aircraft took off from Bombay at 02:32 a.m. (09:02 p.m. UTC, May 27). At 02:39 a.m. (09:09 p.m. UTC, May 27), the Bombay Airport's air traffic controller lost contact with the aircraft, and the aircraft was reported to have crashed at 02:44 a.m. (09:14 p.m. UTC, May 27). The aircraft experienced engine failure and went sharply upward to the point the aircraft was unrecoverable, causing the aircraft to begin losing its altitude until it eventually crashed in an almost vertical attitude. The aircraft crashed approximately at 1–1.5 mi (1.6–2.4 km) east of the Nalla Sopara railway station near the village of Bilalpada, located around 32 mi (51 km) north of Bombay–Santa Cruz Airport. The crash killed all 29 passengers and crew on board. Debris from the aircraft fell around the area in the village, injuring several people and also killing one person on the ground.[2][3][4]

Passengers and crew[]

Passengers and crew aboard GA892[2][6]
NationalityPassengersCrewTotal
Greece 2 – 2
India 1 – 1
Indonesia 6 14 20
Japan 1 – 1
Netherlands 1 – 1
Pakistan 4 – 4
Total 15 14 29

On the Bombay–Karachi flight route segment, Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 carried 15 passengers. In terms of passenger departure cities, six passengers boarded the flight in Jakarta, three in Bangkok,[6] and six in Bombay.[2] One of the Indonesian passengers was the wife of G. A. Siwabessy, the then-Indonesian Minister of Health. She was on her way to Vienna to attend a nuclear conference organized by the United Nations under its International Atomic Energy Agency, but her husband, who was on an official visit in Amsterdam, requested that she pay a visit to the Netherlands first.[7][8] Another passenger onboard the flight included the sole Indian national, who was the president of the Institution of Engineers (India) at the time. He boarded the flight in Bombay and was on a trip to London. Officials from the institution said that the president was supposed to take an Air India flight, but he later switched to the Garuda flight to be able to visit Cairo along the way.[2]

A total of 14 crew members were on board the flight. The ten crew members were the on-duty crew, consisting of four cockpit crew and six cabin crew, while the remaining four were the off-duty extra crew. The cockpit crew members consisted of Captain Rochim, Captain Soedharmono, Flight navigator Asmoro, and Flight engineer Djumadi. One of the pursers of the flight was the younger brother of  [id], the Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt at the time. All on-duty crew members on board the flight boarded the aircraft in Bombay to replace the previous set of crew members, who had been working since the flight originated in Jakarta. The newly-boarded on-duty crew members were supposed to be replaced by another set of crew members in Cairo. Meanwhile, the four off-duty extra crew members, all originating from Jakarta together with the original on-duty crew members, remained on board the flight.[6]

Cause[]

The cause of the accident has yet to be officially disclosed, despite a post-crash investigation in Bombay conducted by a joint team from the Indonesian Directorate of Civil Aviation and Garuda Indonesian Airways, with assistance from Lufthansa.[6] However, the error of the Bombay–Santa Cruz Airport's ground refueler crew, who mistakenly refueled the aircraft with benzine instead of kerosene, is presumed as the possible cause of the accident. Benzine is most commonly used to fuel turboprop-engined aircraft.[4]

Aftermath[]

Seventeen people in Bilalpada village reportedly were injured because of the crash, in which two of them were critical. The crash also destroyed four huts and a school-owned shed. Nineteen buffaloes belonging to the villagers in the area were killed after some of the aircraft debris hit and set ablaze their stable.[2] One person on the ground died because of the accident.

President Suharto of Indonesia ordered the repatriation of all the deceased Indonesians in the accident back to the country. Several stones that had been collected from the crash site were put inside each coffin of the Indonesian victims. Some of the deceased Indonesian passengers were buried in public cemeteries, while notable passengers and all of the crew members were buried in a heroes cemetery.[8]

Garuda Indonesia re-used the flight number GA892 on its Denpasar–Beijing route from 2015 until its suspension in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10] The aircraft registration PK-GJA was re-applied to an ATR 72-600 operated by the airline's low-cost subsidiary Citilink since 2019.[5][11]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Garuda Indonesian Airways International Timetable". Airline Timetable Images. April 1, 1968. p. 3. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "29 killed in plane crash near Bombay". The Indian Express. 36 (168). Bombay. May 29, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado PK-GJA Mumbai Airport (BOM)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Hubert, Ronan. "Crash of a Convair CV-990-30A-5 near Bombay: 30 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Barker, Ronald. "Aircraft PK-GJA Data". Airport-Data. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "Pesawat GIA Convair 990 Djatuh dekat Bombay" [GIA Convair 990 aircraft crashed near Bombay]. Bulletin Djembatan Kawanua [Jembatan Kawanua Bulletin] (in Indonesian). 50. Jakarta: Kawanua. June 1, 1968. p. 595. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  7. ^ Aipassa, Jeanny Arylien; Rachman, Erlita; Sotyati, Endah Dwi (September 22, 2014). Sang Upuleru: Mengenang 100 Tahun Prof. Dr. Gerrit Augustinus Siwabessy (1914–2014) [The Upuleru: Commemorating 100 Years of Prof. Dr. Gerrit Augustinus Siwabessy (1914–2014)] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. p. 269. ISBN 978-602-03-0871-5. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Isnaeni, Hendri F. (April 6, 2019). "Kecelakaan Pesawat Garuda di Mumbai India" [The Crash of Garuda Plane in Mumbai, India]. Historia (in Indonesian). Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  9. ^ Liu, Jim (November 14, 2014). "Garuda Indonesia Adds Denpasar – Beijing Service from Jan 2015". Airlineroute. Routesonline. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  10. ^ Ramadhian, Nabilla (April 16, 2020). "Garuda Indonesia Tangguhkan 26 Rute Penerbangan" [Garuda Indonesia suspends 26 flight routes]. Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "Citilink PK-GJA (ATR 42/72 - MSN 1119) (Ex PK-GAA)". Airfleets. Retrieved October 31, 2021.

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