Garuda Indonesia Flight 708

Garuda Indonesia Airways Flight 708
Accident summary
Date 16 February 1967
Summary Pilot error, Bad weather
Site Sam Ratulangi Airport
Passengers 84
Crew 8
Fatalities 22
Survivors 70
Aircraft type Lockheed L-188 Electra
Operator Garuda Indonesia
Registration PK-GLB
Flight origin Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia
1st stopover Juanda Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia
Last stopover Ujung Pandang-Hasanudin Airport, Makassar, Indonesia
Destination Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado, Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia Airways Flight 708 was a scheduled passenger flight on 16 February 1967 which crashed upon landing at Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. 22 of the 84 passengers on board were killed. All eight crew members survived.

Flight

Flight 708 departed Jakarta for a flight to Manado via Surabaya and Makassar. On the second leg of the flight bad weather at Makassar forced the crew to return to Surabaya. 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.

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.[1]

References