November 23, 2011
One foreign pilot is dead though a second survived after a light plane crash in Papua province on Wednesday morning, Indonesian rescue authorities said.
Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman with the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), told the Jakarta Globe that the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan turboprop carrying two foreign pilots went down near Sugapa in Intan Jaya district.
The pilot, identified by one local news portal as a New Zealander, survived the accident, though his copilot, a Spanish national, died on his way to a hospital in Timika. Another report said both pilots were Spanish.
Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono, meanwhile, told the Jakarta Globe that the plane was attempting to land at Sugapa airport when it was forced to abort the landing because “there were people on the runway.”
“It tried to avoid [the people], went up again, and when it turned left it hit Wabu Mountain.”
The crash is the latest in a string of aviation accidents to hit Indonesia, and the second in 10 weeks involving Susi Air.
A Susi Air Cessna crashed in mountainous terrain in Papua on Sept. 9, killing the pilot and co-pilot. No passengers were on board in that incident.
On Wednesday, Gagah told the Globe that they had abandoned a search for yet another Cessna, which went down on a training flight near Cirebon, West Java, last week. A pilot and two students from the Nusa Flying International training school in Jakarta are missing, feared dead.
“We have stopped the aerial search for the Cessna aircraft on Tuesday evening,” Gagah said, adding they could only search for seven days. “We have tried to search different routes, but with zero results.”
The land-based search was continuing, he said.
On Sept. 29, a Nusantara Buana Air CASA C-212 aircraft went down between Medan, North Sumatra, and Kutacane, Aceh, leaving 18 people dead.
(according to the JG)
wo 23 nov 2011 - 6:13