Date & Time:
Dec 24, 1959 at 1200 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)
Operator:
Registration:
PK-GDV
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Palembang – Jakarta
MSN:
13535
YOM:
1944
Flight number:
GA330
Country:
Indonesia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
About 13 minutes after takeoff from Palembang Airport, the crew reported the failure of the right engine and elected to return for a safe landing. In marginal weather conditions, the captain descended through the clouds with a rate of 300 feet per minute and after passing the last cloud layer, the aircraft banked right and crashed in a swampy area located 5 km short of runway threshold. A pilot was killed while the second crew was injured. The aircraft was destroyed.
Probable cause:
Failure of the right engine, a lack of precaution on the part of the captain and marginal weather. A contributing factor may have been the overloaded condition of the aircraft, however, not to such an extent that it forced the aircraft to descend to a dangerously low altitude.
