Dakota VT-CLA
The tail of VT-CLA, after the crash
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| Incident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 July 1947 |
| Summary | shoot down by fighter aircraft |
| Site | Ngoto, Bantul |
| Passengers | 6 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 8 |
| Survivors | 1 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas C-47B |
| Registration | VT-CLA |
| Flight origin | Singapore |
| Destination | Yogyakarta, Indonesia |
Dakota VT-CLA was a Douglas C-47 Skytrain carrying medical supplies to the national government of Indonesia at Yogyakarta on 29 July 1947.
By the middle of the Indonesian National Revolution (1945–1949), the newly proclaimed republic was put on the defensive by returning Dutch forces. Several Indonesians, including Deputy Commodores Agustinus Adisucipto and Abdul Rahman Saleh, were tasked to deliver medical supplies from Malaya. Near the completion of the mission, as their aircraft – chartered from an Indian businessman and flown by an Australian pilot – approached the airfield at Maguwo, Yogyakarta, two Dutch Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks flew in and shot the aircraft down over Ngoto, Bantul. Only one person survived the crash.
Although the Dutch initially denied complicity, investigation showed that the Kittyhawks had caused the crash; the Dutch later made restitution to India. On 1 March 1948 a monument to the aircraft was built in Ngoto. Since 1979, the Indonesian Air Force has celebrated a Service Day (Hari Bakti) in commemoration of the crash and in remembrance of the deaths.
On 17 August 1945, President of Indonesia Sukarno proclaimed the nation's independence; this was after more than three hundred years of being a colony of the Netherlands and a three-year occupation by the Empire of Japan. The nascent country needed a defence force to protect it from a perceived invasion from the Dutch, seeking to reclaim the archipelago. The first such defence force, known as the People's Security People's Safety Body (Badan Keamanan Rakjat, or BKR), was formed on 23 August but tasked with police work. On 5 October of that year the government formed a national military, including provisions for an air force. Allied Dutch and British forces had already landed on the main island of Java by that time, but were mainly concerned with the repatriation of former prisoners of war; however, it was known that the Dutch would soon attempt to retake the former colony.
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