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
National emblem of Indonesia the Garuda in Indonesia's coat-of-arms invokes the pre-colonial Hindu kingdoms that spanned across the archipelago, from which the present-day Republic of Indonesia is understood to be descended. However, unlike the traditional anthropomorphic form of Garuda as featured in ancient temples in Java, the Balinese Garuda, or the national emblem of Thailand, the design of Indonesia's "Garuda Pancasila" is rendered in modern naturalist style. The design of "Garuda Pancasila" was inspired by the "elang Jawa" or Javan hawk-eagle ("Nisaetus bartelsi"), an endangered raptor endemic to the mountainous forest regions of Java. The Javan hawk-eagle's resemblance to the "Garuda Pancasila" is most