Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 708 was a scheduled

domestic passenger flight A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country. Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports. Domestic flights are generally c ...

in Indonesia by Garuda Indonesian Airways (now

Garuda Indonesia Garuda Indonesia is the flag carrier of Indonesia, headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport. A successor of KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, it is a member of SkyTeam and the second-largest airline of Indonesia after Lion Air, operat ...

) from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

to Manado, with stopovers in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

and

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

. On 16 February 1967, while operating the last segment of the flight from Makassar to Manado, the

Lockheed L-188C Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

airliner crashed on landing at Mapanget Airport in Manado, killing 22 out of 84 passengers and eight crew on board.

Aircraft

The accident aircraft was a

airliner with manufacturer serial number 2021, line number 169, registration PK-GLB. The airline took delivery of the aircraft in January 1961. The aircraft performed its recent inspection on 13 November 1966 with a valid airworthiness certificate until 23 June 1967. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had accumulated 12,359 flight hours.

Flight and crash

Flight 708 departed

for a flight to Manado via Surabaya and Makassar. On the second leg of the flight bad weather at

forced the crew to return to

. The flight continued the next day to Makassar and on to Manado. The weather at Manado was cloud base at 900 feet and 2 km visibility. An approach to runway 18 was made, but after passing a hill 200 feet above runway elevation and 2720 feet short of the threshold, the pilot realized he was too high and left of the centerline. The nose was lowered and the aircraft banked right to intercept the glide path. The speed decreased below the 125 knots target threshold speed and the aircraft, still banked to the right, landed heavily 156 feet short of the runway threshold. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft skidded and caught fire.

Crew

The flight had four cabin crew and four cockpit crew that consisted of a captain, a first officer, a flight engineer, and a radio operator. * The 36-year-old

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

held an

airline transport pilot license The airline transport pilot license (ATPL), or in the United States of America, an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate is the highest level of aircraft pilot certificate. In the United States, those certified as airline transport pilots ...

with a type rating to fly the Lockheed L-188C Electra. He had accumulated 8,054 flight hours, including 718 on the Electra. In the 90 days before the accident, he had flown for 205 hours, including 150 on the Electra. He performed a proficiency check to fly the type on 26 November 1966 and passed a health check on 1 December 1966. In addition, he was the only pilot on the flight to have the experience to land the Electra in Manado. * The 36-year-old first officer also held an airline transport pilot license with a type rating to fly the Lockheed L-188C Electra. He had accumulated 8,336 flight hours, including 505 on the Electra. He passed a health check on 3 October 1966. * The 28-year-old

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...

held a flight engineer license with a type rating to fly on the Lockheed L-188C Electra and the Convair CV-340/440. He passed a health check on 25 July 1966. * The 36-year-old radio operator held a radiotelephony license issued on 22 November 1960. He passed a health check on 25 July 1966.

Probable cause

The probable cause of the accident was determined to be an awkward landing technique resulting in an excessive rate of sink on touchdown. Among the contributing factors were the uneven pavement of the runway and marginal weather at time of the landing.

References

{{Coord missing, Indonesia 1967 in Indonesia Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed L-188 Electra Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Aviation accidents and incidents in 1967 Aviation accidents and incidents in Indonesia Flight 708 February 1967 events in Asia