Mandala Airlines - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

During its 40 years of operation, Mandala Airlines has experienced two significant accidents and several minor incidents. However, it has had no incidents since 2007, when it began to retire older aircraft and introduce newer ones.

• On February 1, 1975, a Vickers Viscount overran the runway during landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan and ended up in a paddy field. Another Viscount overran the runway of Manado Airport on January 7, 1976. The aircraft was landing in intermittent slight rain, touching down 520 meters (1706 feet) down the runway, crossed a ditch and 3 drains before coming to rest 180 meters (591 feet) past the end of the runway. There were no fatalities in both incidents.
• On October 18, 1977, a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 crashed in Manila, Philippines during a certification flight. Two of three crew members were killed.
• On May 1, 1981, a Vickers Viscount ran off the runway at Semarang, causing the right main gear and nose gear to collapse. Another Viscount belly-landed at Yogyakarta on January 13, 1985. In both cases there were no fatalities but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
• On November 30, 1985, a Lockheed L-188 Electra had its main gear wheels separated when approaching for landing at Padang. The wheels fell through the roof of a watch repair shop. The aircraft was diverted to Medan for a wheels-up landing. All propellers broke off and the aircraft burst into flames after coming to rest. All 45 passengers and crew members survived, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
• On July 24, 1992, Mandala Airlines Flight 660, a Vickers Viscount flying from Makassar to Ambon, crashed into Inahau Hill (located at Liliboy village, about 15 km (9 mi) west of the intended destination) while on an instrument approach in a heavy rainstorm. All 70 passengers and crew members were killed. At the time, it was Indonesia's third worst aviation accident.
• On September 5, 2005, Mandala Airlines Flight 091, a Boeing 737-200 departing for Jakarta, crashed seconds after taking off from Medan. Out of 117 passengers and crew members, 100 died. One passenger died later from injuries sustained during the crash in a hospital. As the aircraft crashed into a heavily populated residential area, 49 persons on the ground were also killed, and at least 26 were injured. This accident is the second worst aviation accident in Indonesia, and also the world's worst accident involving a Boeing 737-200.
• On October 3, 2006, a Boeing 737-200 arriving from Balikpapan skidded 50 meters off the runway during landing at Tarakan. There were no injuries. Visibility was below 400 meters at the time due to heavy haze. Months later, on December 18, another Boeing 737-200 skidded off the runway at Malang due to adverse weather. No injuries were reported to the 77 passengers on board. Malang was the scene for another incident on November 1, 2007, when another Boeing 737-200 skidded when landing due to adverse weather. No serious injury occurred, but 5 persons were slightly injured out of 89 passengers and crew members.