Dirgantara Air Service Flight 5940

Dirgantara Air Service Flight 5940 was an Indonesian domestic scheduled passenger flight, operated by military-owned airline Dirgantara Air Service, from South Kalimantan's provincial capital of Banjarmasin to Sampit, the capital of the East Kotawaringin Regency. On 7 December 1996, a CASA C-212 Aviocar registered as PK-VSO crashed into a gas plant shortly after takeoff from Syamsudin Noor International Airport. 17 people, including one on the ground, died at the scene, a 12-year-old child died on the way to the hospital, and a worker at the gas plant died at the hospital. One passenger, identified as 40-year-old Irianto, was the only survivor. The official investigation determined that the crew lost control of the plane after its right engine malfunctioned.

Flight

The flight took off from Syamsudin Noor International Airport around 15:30 local time with 15 passengers and 2 crew members and was heading to Sampit, a city known for its strategic location and economy in South Kalimantan. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Herybert and was co-piloted by First Officer Sofyan Noor. Approximately one minute after takeoff, the right engine malfunctioned. The crew then reported to the tower, but instead of reporting the malfunctioning engine, the crew accidentally reported the other engine was working normally. The crew then stated that they would "return to base", but whilst making an emergency landing they lost control of the aircraft and it crashed through the rooftops of PT. Barox Utama Jaya, a factory producing oxygen tanks and acetylene. The crash site was located 3 km from the airport.

13 passengers and both crew members were killed. A gas plant worker was also killed and 3 others were injured due to the subsequent explosions. Two passengers of Flight 5940, identified as 40-year old Irianto and 12-year old Rusdiana survived the impact. Both were rushed to nearby hospitals. Rusdiana however succumbed to her injuries while on the way to the hospital. A worker who initially survived the crash in critical injuries, died due to the severity of his injuries.