Helicopter crash victims evacuated<\/p>\n
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang<\/p>\n
Police braved rugged terrain on Saturday to evacuate the dead
\nbodies of six people who had been in a helicopter when it crashed
\nin a forest near the West Sumatra provincial capital of Padang on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The officers located the bodies of Sr. Comr. Harrison
\nHarmaini, the director of the West Sumatra Police's crime
\ndivision; Sr. Comr. Bambang Irawan, the director of the
\nintelligence division; Adj. Sr. Jornalis Johor, the chief of the
\ncriminal identification unit; Second Brig. Welly Permana; pilot
\nComr. Danny and a journalist with the Singgalang daily, Herman
\nTasrial.<\/p>\n
Two platoons of the West Sumatra Police's Mobile Brigade
\n(Brimob) were deployed for the evacuation, replacing a
\nsearch-and-rescue team that had been working in the Ladang Padi
\narea since Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"The Brimob officers also came to provide equipment for the
\nrescue team,\" Deputy West Sumatra Police chief Sr. Comr. Ade
\nRaharja said.<\/p>\n
The co-pilot, Second Insp. Asep, was earlier found alive. He
\nremains in the Dr. M. Djamil Hospital in Padang.<\/p>\n
The M-2 police helicopter crashed in Dr. Mohammad Hatta Forest
\nGarden after the officers on board inspected a forest fire in
\nSouth Solak regency. They had been on their way to Padang but
\nabout 10 minutes from Tabing Airport there, the helicopter lost
\ncontact with the flight control tower.<\/p>\n
Ade said the police team had encountered difficulties in
\nevacuating the bodies as they had to walk through mountainous
\nforests.<\/p>\n
The evacuation process was expected to be completed later on
\nSaturday, when the bodies would be taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n
The rescue team found the bodies on Friday afternoon at a
\nlocation some 125 meters from Sarasah Falls in Rimbo Muara,
\ninside the protected forest, which is named after one of the
\ncountry's founding fathers.<\/p>\n
Novi, 24, the local man who was the first to find debris from
\nthe helicopter, said the wreckage of the chopper was found on the
\nside of a mountain. Its propeller was destroyed while the back
\nand front parts of the helicopter were badly damaged from hitting
\nthe mountain. He said there was no sign of fire.<\/p>\n
\"There were four coconut trees that had been cut off, maybe by
\nthe propeller, around the scene,\" Novi said.<\/p>\n
One of the bodies was located inside the helicopter, another
\none under the aircraft while the rest were scattered as far as
\ntwo to three meters away from the crash site, he said. Novi said
\nhe could not identify the bodies from looking at them.<\/p>\n
Doctors have prohibited Asep, whose knees were severely
\ninjured in the accident, from talking to visitors as of Saturday.<\/p>\n
Second Brig. Yusuf Oktaf, the mechanic of the chopper, said
\nthat Asep phoned him a few seconds before the helicopter went
\ndown.<\/p>\n
\"Asep phoned me at about 3.40 p.m.. (He) said that the
\ncondition of the helicopter was unstable and he planned to break
\nthrough its door and jump into a river,\" he said after visiting
\nAsep.<\/p>\n
Separately, the wife of Erman, Magdalena, said she had heard
\nthe news of the crash from relatives.<\/p>\n
\"Bang Erman usually phoned me if he went to cover (events) or
\nattend editorial meetings. This time around, he did not phone
\nme,\" the 36-year-old said.<\/p>\n
The last air accident involving a police aircraft was in
\nFebruary, when a Casa 212 airplane crashed into an estuary just
\nin front of Papua's Sarmi Airport, killing 15 people on board.
\nThree people survived.<\/p>\n
Several military aircraft have crashed in recent years,
\nraising concerns about the aging fleet.<\/p>",
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