It is all over the news and even my dad emailed me the story; 21 die in Indonesian airline disaster.
I landed and took-off from that airport last December. At the time I thought the airline, Garuda, and the airport was a bit of a joke but didn’t feel scared for my life. The flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta was two hours late and a local just laughed and said “They come when they feel like it” when I asked if the plane was coming at all. He also mentioned they will wait around for passengers if there is not enough to fill the plane on time. Landing at Yogyakarta was like landing at a backwater airstrip with the international section of the airport closed down and some guys wheeling our bags on open trolleys to the airport building. The inflight food was different but nice, all sweet breads and nuts and I don’t remember there being a flight-safety presentation before take-off.
Terrible that 21 people died today and I hope it was nobody I met in my time there.
