4 Dead as Intan Air Plane Crashes in Maluku

The Jakarta Globe, January 19, 2014.


A small twin-engine plane went down in bad weather in Maluku on Sunday, killing four employees of the private charter-plane company.

The Piper Seneca crashed on Un Beach in Tual, Maluki, midday on Sunday, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation. The Intan Angkasa Air Service (Intan Air) plane was en-route to Surabaya for a routine check, departing from Jayapura, West Papua, with stops in Tual and Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi, for refueling.

“We cannot confirm the cause of the accident yet; it needs to be investigated first,” Bambang S. Ervan, the ministry spokesman, told Jakarta Globe on Sunday. “But the weather was rather bad [at the time of the accident].”

The four dead were identified as the pilot Widi, aircraft engineers Arif Budiarto and Efi, and ground handling officer Jefri. Efforts were underway to remove the remains of the victims from the crash site.



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