Dakota VT-CLA [SEP] point in time
Dakota VT-CLA
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
K5Y (known locally as a Cureng) left by the Japanese empire. Another commodore, Abdul Rahman Saleh, established the Air Force Technical School in Malang, East Java. Both officers were involved in the crash of Dakota VT-CLA.
Flight.
By July 1947 the Dutch forces, in an attempt to retake the former Indies, had occupied most major cities in Java and Sumatra, leaving the Indonesian republic on the defensive. Under orders from Sukarno, Adisucipto and Saleh chartered a Douglas C-47B-20-DK from Bijoyanda Patnaik,