Airlines

A Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-400 aircraft burst into flames upon landing this morning at Yogyakarta airport in central Java. Click here to see video

Indonesian authorities are now reporting up to 49 people died in the accident, but there have been conflicting numbers given all day. Garuda says in a statement that the accident occurred at 06:55 on landing at Yogyakarta. The aircraft, operating as flight GA200 from Jakarta, burst into flames on landing and many passengers were trapped inside.

The airline says there were 133 passengers and seven crewmembers on board. The injured are being treated at local hospitals.

Indonesian media reports say the aircraft overshot the runway on landing. Television pictures show the smouldering wreckage of the aircraft at the airport at Yogyakarta (below), which is also commonly referred to as Jogja or Jogjakarta. The pictures show the 737 completely destroyed, with its tail nearly intact clearly showing the state-owned airline’s livery.

Indonesia’s aviation safety record has been in the spotlight since 1 January, when an Adam Air 737-400 crashed into water while on a domestic flight killing all 102 people on board. Last month another Adam Air aircraft, a 737-300, suffered a hard landing that badly damaged the aircraft.

An air traffic controller from the airport says that the aircraft was registered as PK-GZC. According to Flight’s ACAS database the 737-400 was built in 1992 and had a manufacturer’s serial number of 25664.

ACAS lists the owner as Aircraft Finance Trust of the USA. It says Garuda began operating the CFM International CFM56-powered twinjet in October 2002.