Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 (Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 152) was also in the area at the time. Earlier in the day, another Flight 152, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 152, was handled by the same air traffic controller. This led to the controller mistakenly saying "Merpati one five two turn left heading 240 to intercept runway zero five from the right side"; as the wrong call sign was used, the Garuda pilots disregarded these instructions. The controller, on not receiving a response, queried the pilots on if they heard the instructions; this time the correct call sign "Indonesia 152" was used. The controller then repeated
Garuda Indonesia is used on most domestic and regional routes. Meanwhile, the Bombardier CRJ1000 is used to fly to airports incapable of handling the newer 737-800, replacing the Boeing 737 Classic. The ATR 72-600 turboprop entered service at the end of 2013, serving new inter-island routes to airports in the eastern part of Indonesia that cannot handle jet aircraft. Of the 73 aircraft in the 737NG fleet, Garuda plans to retire the oldest three, which exceed 16 years in age (the rest of the fleet is eight years or younger, as of May 2018). At the Paris Air Show in 2015, Garuda