Garuda Indonesia Indonesia signed an agreement to join SkyTeam. However instead of the usual 18-24 months to complete membership formalities, shortcomings with its IT system delayed Garuda's entry. After a 40-month process, the airline eventually became the 20th member of the alliance on 5 March 2014, some two years after the original target date. Garuda Indonesia codeshares with the following airlines: As Indonesia's flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia tries to connect many parts of Indonesia to support the government's "Indonesian Interconnectivity" program. However, there are many remote and smaller airports that cannot be reached by Garuda Indonesia's fleet of Boeing 737-800s. This is
Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 the worst safety records among the world's national carriers. Since 1950, Garuda Indonesia has had 13 major accidents. The most recent was in 2002, when Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 ditched in the Bengawan Solo River due to engine flameout caused by excessive hail ingestion, killing a flight attendant. The deadliest accident was in 1997, when Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 flew into a wooded mountain on approach to Medan, killing 234 people. The managing director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Peter Harbison, stated that the major accidents in Indonesian aviation history were all caused by the combinations of airports'