Garuda Indonesia under the name of "Garuda Indonesian Airways". Throughout the revolution, Garuda supported national interests, and often carried diplomats on its flights. The Burmese government helped the airline significantly during its beginnings. The country's national airline, Union of Burma Airways, often chartered one of the airline's DC-3s for its own flights. Accordingly, upon Garuda's formal joint incorporation with KLM on 31 March 1950, the airline presented the Burmese government with a DC-3 as a gift. By the early and mid 1950s, the airline operated a fleet of 38 aircraft, which included 22 DC-3s, 8 Catalina seaplanes, and 8 Convair 240s, and
Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 are brought to A310 standards, including the addition of electronic flight instrumentation. The two pilots aboard the accident flight were qualified to fly both the FFCC and the -600 model, however the adequacy of their conversion training between the two would later be called into question. At approximately 1:00pm, air traffic controllers in Medan cleared Flight 152 for an ILS approach into Runway 05 from its current 316 degree heading. The crew, led by Captain Rahmo Wiyogo, 42, a pilot with over 20 years of flying experience at Garuda Indonesia and more than 12,000 flying hours, and First Officer Tata