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 Australian pilot – approached the airfield at Maguwo , Yogyakarta , two Dutch Curtiss P - 40 Kittyhawk s flew in and shot the aircraft down over Ngoto , Bantul . Only one person survived the crash . Although the Dutch initially denied complicity , investigation showed that the Kittyhawks had caused the crash ; the Dutch later made restitution to India . On 1 March 1948 a monument to the aircraft was built in Ngoto . Since 1979 , the Indonesian Air Force has celebrated a Service Day ( Hari Bakti ) in commemoration of the crash and in remembrance of the deaths . Background . On 17 August 1945 , President of Indonesia Sukarno proclaimed the nation ' s independence ; this was after more than three hundred years of being a colony of the Netherlands and a three year occupation by the Empire of Japan . The nascent country needed a defence force to protect it from a perceived invasion from the Dutch , seeking to reclaim the archipelago . The first such defence force , known as the People ' s Security People ' s Safety Body ( , or BKR ) , was formed on 23 August but tasked with police work . On 5 October of that year the government formed a national military , including provisions for an air force . Allied Dutch and British forces had already landed on the main island of Java by that time , but were mainly concerned with the repatriation of former prisoners of war ; however , it was known that the Dutch would soon attempt to retake the former colony . The first pilot in this new air force was Deputy Commodore Agustinus Adisucipto , who had flown the first Indonesian aircraft , a Yokosuka 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 , an Indian national and owner of Kalinga Airlines , to transport medical supplies donated by the Red Cross of Malaya to the Red Cross of Indonesia . The flight was approved by both British and Dutch forces , who guaranteed a safe flight . The night before the flight ' s departure , Malayan radio broadcast that a flight with the registration number VT - CLA would be carrying medical supplies to Yogyakarta . The flight departed Singapore , piloted by Alexander Noel Constantine , at 1 : 00 a . m . West Indonesian Time ( UTC + 7 ) for Maguwo , the airfield at Yogyakarta . That morning , as the aircraft approached Yogyakarta , the Indonesian air force ( with " Willow " biplanes and a " Sonia " divebomber ) bombed Dutch strongholds in Semarang , Salatiga and Ambarawa . This infuriated the Dutch . After three hours of flight , Dakota VT - CLA arrived near Maguwo . After the landing gear descended , two Dutch P - 40 Kittyhawk s appeared and shot at the aircraft . After bullets destroyed the left engine , the aircraft went into a dive , first crashing into a tree then into paddy field s in Ngoto , Bantul . Only its tail remained in one piece . Aftermath . Of the nine passengers and crew , seven died on impact . Two others , the pilot ' s wife Beryl and Abdulgani Handonotjokro , were rushed to Bethesda Hospital in the city . Beryl Constantine succumbed to her wounds at the hospital , while Handonotjokro survived . After a memorial service at Tugu Hotel , which had been used as a temporary barracks for the air force , Adisucipto and Saleh were buried at Kuncen Cemetery in Yogyakarta , while Adi Soemarmo Wirjokusumo was buried in Kusumanegara Heroes ' Cemetery . The Dutch initially rejected that the Kittyhawks were involved in the crash , stating that the plane seemed to have crashed into something . However , Indonesian witnesses on the ground reported that the Kittyhawks had come from the viewer ' s right of the Dakota and shot at it . An inspection of Wirjokusumo ' s body , when it was recovered , confirmed that he had been shot . They later denied knowledge of the flight and said that it had not had Red Cross markings . After India protested the incident , the Dutch government sent a Dakota C - 47A along with financial restitution . Legacy . On 1 March 1948 , a monument to the crash was built in Ngoto . Both Adisucipto and Saleh were declared National Heroes of Indonesia in 1974 . In 2000 , Adisucipto and Saleh were moved from their initial burial spots to the monument , where they are buried together with their wives . Since 1979 , the Indonesian Air Force has celebrated a Service Day ( ) in commemoration of the crash and in remembrance of the deaths , based on Decision of the Indonesian Air Force Commander Number 133 / VII / 1976 . Casualties . Eight persons died when Dakota VT - CLA was shot down . including :