Talk:Lion Air Flight 538

Flight number?
I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems that for many years this article stated that the aircraft known as "PK-LMN" (a Lion Air McDonnell Douglas MD-82) crashed whilst operating Flight 538. This would appear to be incorrect 1, 2, 3, and the flight number was 583. This page was originally moved some months ago, but links to it from other pages were not updated. I've done that now. Just noting here that there do appear to be some sources which use (what would appear to be) the incorrect number and I'm not sure whether this was as a result of this Wikipedia article or incorrect reporting in the media, so I'd appreciate any info on this. Thanks, 72 (talk) 17:08, 21 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Okay, since there's been a resent surge of moves on this page, lets get all the information I can find on the flight number.


 * Tempo, "Lion Air Terpeleset di Solo, 10 Tewas", published November 30, 2004: 538
 * Suara Merdeka, "Lion Air Nyungsep di Solo, 23 Tewas", published December 1, 2004: 538
 * Sydney Morning Herald, "31 killed in Indonesian plane crash", published December 1, 2004: 583

No other news article used as a source on this article mentions the flight number. Here are some more news articles I could find.


 * China Daily, "At least 15 dead in Indonesia plane crash", published November 30, 2004: 583 (Another China Daily article on December 1 says the same.)
 * Detik, "Korban Tewas Lion Air 23 Orang", published November 30, 2004: 538 (Another Detik article on December 1 says the same.)
 * Liputan6, "Berita Kecelakaan Lion Air Hari Ini", published November 30, 2004: 538

I think it's worth noting how most sources using 583 are in English, while most that are using 538 are in Indonesian.

Weirdly, the KNKT doesn't appear to have anything on the accident on their website. But the next best thing, an NTSB narrative, uses 538. ASN uses 583.

Personally, based on its use by Indonesian news outlets and the NTSB, I think 538 may be the correct number. The best source using 583 is ASN, but even ASN has gotten flight numbers wrong before. Still, I think finding something from the KNKT would be the best way to clear up this confusion.ThatFlyingSquid (talk) 14:16, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Ammount of occupants
According to the Aviation Safety Network's accident description and the Indonesian version of this article. There were actually 163 occupants on board the aircraft (156 passengers, but still seven crew members). The number of fatalities is still the same (25 fatalities), but the number of survivors is 156 (the number of injuries is also 156 meaning that all the survivors were injured). Could the information that stated that there were 153 occupants (146 passengers and seven crew members) be initial reports? Tigerdude9 (talk) 17:44, 11 July 2019 (UTC)