The aircraft had departed Departing Palembang 80 minutes earlier and had been cleared Emptying for an approach to runway 05 at Medan Airport .

The May 1998 riots of Indonesia ( ) , also known as the 1998 tragedy ( ) or simply the 1998 event ( ) , were incidents Catastrophe of mass violence , demonstrations , and civil unrest of a racial nature that occurred Presence throughout Indonesia , mainly in Medan in the province of North Sumatra ( 4–8 May ) , the capital city of Jakarta ( 12–15 May ) , and Surakarta ( also called Solo ) in the province of Central Java ( 13–15 May ) .