Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542

1961 aviation accident

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542
Disappearance
A Garuda Indonesian Airways Douglas DC-3
Date	3 February 1961 (1961-02-03)
Summary	Missing, presumed crashed into the sea
Site	Off Madura Island
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-3
Operator	Garuda Indonesian Airways
Registration	PK-GDY
Flight origin	Juanda Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia
Destination	Sepinggan Airport, Balikpapan, Indonesia
Occupants	26
Passengers	21
Crew	5
Fatalities	26 (presumed)
Missing	26
Survivors	0 (presumed)

Garuda Indonesia Flight 542 was a scheduled passenger flight on 3 February 1961, which was reported missing en route from Surabaya to Balikpapan. All 26 occupants on board were lost in the accident.

Flight

The aircraft departed Surabaya-Juanda Airport at 11:35 pm inbound for Balikpapan. While in cruising altitude, the airplane disappeared from radar screens and presumably crashed into the Java Sea. Search and rescue operations were conducted but eventually suspended after a few days, as no trace of the aircraft nor the 26 occupants was found. The crew was unable to send any distress call prior to the accident. Due to a lack of evidence, it was not possible to determine the exact cause of the accident.

References

"ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-20-DK PK-GDY Madura Island". Retrieved 20 March 2022.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 (1961)
Jan 3 Aero Flight 311Jan 16 RAF Lakenheath nuclear weapons accidentsJan 19 Aeronaves de México Flight 401Jan 24 Goldsboro B-52 crashJan 24 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 424Jan 28 American Airlines Flight 1502Feb 3 Garuda Indonesia Flight 542Feb 15 Sabena Flight 548Mar 14 Yuba City B-52 crashMar 16 Aeroflot Flight 68Mar 28 ČSA Flight 511Apr 3 LAN-Chile Flight 621May 10 Air France Flight 406May 30 Viasa Flight 897Jun 12 KLM Flight 823Jul 11 United Air Lines Flight 859Jul 12 ČSA Flight 511Jul 19 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644Jul 21 Alaska Airlines Flight 779Jul 30 Avion PirataAug 6 Malév C-47 crashAug 9 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crashSep 1 TWA Flight 529Sep 10 President Airlines DC-6 crashSep 12 Air France Flight 2005Sep 14 F-84 Thunderstreak incidentSep 17 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706Sep 18 Transair Sweden DC-6 crashSep 23 Turkish Airlines Flight 835Oct 7 Derby Aviation crashNov 8 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8Nov 14 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crashNov 23 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322Nov 30 Ansett-ANA Flight 325Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight 245Dec 21 British European Airways Flight 226Dec 31 Mineralnye Vody Il-18 crash
1960 ◄ ► 1962

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 (1961)

Jan 3 Aero Flight 311Jan 16 RAF Lakenheath nuclear weapons accidentsJan 19 Aeronaves de México Flight 401Jan 24 Goldsboro B-52 crashJan 24 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 424Jan 28 American Airlines Flight 1502Feb 3 Garuda Indonesia Flight 542Feb 15 Sabena Flight 548Mar 14 Yuba City B-52 crashMar 16 Aeroflot Flight 68Mar 28 ČSA Flight 511Apr 3 LAN-Chile Flight 621May 10 Air France Flight 406May 30 Viasa Flight 897Jun 12 KLM Flight 823Jul 11 United Air Lines Flight 859Jul 12 ČSA Flight 511Jul 19 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644Jul 21 Alaska Airlines Flight 779Jul 30 Avion PirataAug 6 Malév C-47 crashAug 9 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crashSep 1 TWA Flight 529Sep 10 President Airlines DC-6 crashSep 12 Air France Flight 2005Sep 14 F-84 Thunderstreak incidentSep 17 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706Sep 18 Transair Sweden DC-6 crashSep 23 Turkish Airlines Flight 835Oct 7 Derby Aviation crashNov 8 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8Nov 14 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crashNov 23 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322Nov 30 Ansett-ANA Flight 325Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight 245Dec 21 British European Airways Flight 226Dec 31 Mineralnye Vody Il-18 crash

1960 ◄ ► 1962

Garuda Indonesia

Former name

Garuda Indonesian Airways

Services

Destinations

Fleet	Airbus A330-200 Airbus A330-300 Airbus A330-900 Boeing 737-800 Boeing 777-300ER

Subsidiaries

Accidents and incidents

GA424 (1961)
GA542 (1961)
GA708 (1967)
GA892 (1968)
MP138 (1974)
GA150 (1975)
LL001 (1978)
Fokker F28 crash (1979)
GA206 (1981)
Fokker F28 crash (1982)
GA035 (1987)
GA865 (1996)
GA152 (1997)
GA421 (2002)
GA200 (2007)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Indonesia before 2000
1940s	Qantas Short Empire shootdown (January 1942)* RAAF Douglas C-47 disappearance (December 1945)* Yogyakarta Dakota incident (July 1947)*
1950s	Air India Flight 300 (April 1955) KLM Flight 844 (July 1957)*
1960s	Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 424 (January 1961) Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542 (February 1961) Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 708 (February 1967)
1970s	Merpati Nusantara Airlines Vickers Viscount crash (November 1971) Pan Am Flight 812 (April 1974) Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 150 (September 1975) Garuda Fokker F28 crash (July 1979)
1980s	Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 206 (March 1981) Garuda Fokker F28 crash (March 1982) British Airways Flight 009 (June 1982) Garuda Indonesia Flight 035 (April 1987)
1990s	Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash (October 1991) Mandala Airlines Flight 660 (July 1992) Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601 (October 1992) Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 724 (July 1993) Dirgantara Air Service Flight 5940 (December 1996) Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 106 (April 1997) Sempati Air Flight 304 (July 1997) Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 (September 1997) SilkAir Flight 185 (December 1997)
"*" denotes an incident that took place in either the Dutch East Indies or Netherlands New Guinea 1940–1999 ► 2000–2009

Categories: