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Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542

3 Feb 1961 · Off Madura Island

Douglas DC-3 · Missing, presumed crashed into the sea

From Juanda International Airport (SUB) to Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport (BPN)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
26 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
26
Survivors
0
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Douglas DC-3

Aircraft type
Douglas DC-3
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
PK-GDY
Onboard fatalities
26
Route
From Juanda International Airport (SUB)To Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport (BPN)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

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. The wreckage was never found.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542” (revision 1339307642, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542
Article
Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542
Revision
1339307642 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q111913426
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 542" (page 70339749, revision 1339307642)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
flight number in the article title
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.