Search team fails to locate missing glider in Puncak<\/p>\n
BOGOR (JP): Rescuers on Friday still failed to trace the
\nwhereabouts of a 17-year-old paraglider who went missing after
\nbeing surprised by storms while flying in foggy skies in the
\npopular mountainous resort of Puncak on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
A senior rescue team member, Gendon Subandono, said the joint
\nteam members, including Air Force personnel deployed with two
\nhelicopters, had in the past three days carefully combed the area
\nwithin the radius of some two kilometers from the spot where
\nparaglider Dadang Suharya was last seen by his colleagues.<\/p>\n
"But the search still ended fruitlessly," said Gendon, who is
\ndeputy chairman of the Association of Indonesian Hand Gliders
\n(PLGI), in conversation with The Jakarta Post at the rescue
\nteam's homebase, some 400 meters from the paraglider's launching
\npad.<\/p>\n
He blamed the area's hilly surface and the unfriendly weather
\nfor the rescuers' difficult mission.<\/p>\n
"The mountain slope is steep. What's more, the continuous
\npresence of thick fog in this area has limited our vision,"
\nGendon added.<\/p>\n
He said that members of the search and rescue team, which also
\nincluded police personnel, members of University Student Nature
\nLovers and local paragliders, had difficulty estimating the
\npossible direction as to where Dadang was dragged by the storm.<\/p>\n
"The wind was very strong at that time and we, therefore, have
\nto widen the area to be searched," he added.<\/p>\n
Dozens of the rescuers explored every inch of the ground,
\nwhich consisted mainly of tea plantations and small trees. Until
\nFriday morning, they were supported by two helicopters from the
\nAtang Senjaya Air Force field in Bogor.<\/p>\n
The launching pad used by the paragliders is a 20-meter by 20-
\nmeter square field located on top of a hill in the middle of
\nGunung Mas Plantation in Puncak, a favorite cool-weather retreat
\nfor many Jakartans.<\/p>\n
Besides members of local paragliding clubs, domestic and
\nforeign tourists are often seen using the pad to fly their
\ngliders.<\/p>\n
To the front of the pad, paragliders enjoy views of vast tea
\nplantations, the roofs of houses and the busy and winding Jl.
\nRaya Puncak.<\/p>\n
At a distance, Geger Benteng mountain and the thick forest at
\nthe Gede Mountain can be seen.<\/p>\n
As usual<\/p>\n
According to the elder brother of the victim, Nanang Sunarya,
\n19, Dadang and another athlete, Ade Basoni, were flying as usual
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
"We went together to the launching pad driving in a Kijang
\nvan.<\/p>\n
Ade started to fly around 11.30 a.m and was followed by Dadang
\nminutes after," he recalled.<\/p>\n
Nanang, a second year student at Economic Vocational Senior
\nHigh School Cipayung in Megamendung district, said the weather
\nwas actually fine in the beginning when the two young men took
\nflight.<\/p>\n
"But right after Dadang took off, a strong wind came from the
\nback of the hill and suddenly trapped him," he said.<\/p>\n
A street vendor, Ujang Jujun, admitted that thick fog had
\ngripped the area since Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Nanang added that Ade was finally able to safely perform an
\nemergency landing at a nearby landing pad.<\/p>\n
"I contacted Dadang via a walkie-talkie and warned him to be
\ncalm, but I got no response at all," he recalled.<\/p>\n
According to the standard regulations at the site, every
\nparaglider is equipped with radio equipment.<\/p>\n
He said the thick fog followed by strong winds made it
\nimpossible to locate the direction his brother traveled.<\/p>\n
"The last time I saw him, he was at around 100 meters above
\nthe ground," he said, adding that he rushed to inform his family
\nand surrounding dwellers after the incident.<\/p>\n
He said Dadang, also his classmate, has been a keen
\nparagliding hobbyist for 18 months.<\/p>\n
Four of the five children in the family, Nanang said, enjoy
\nthe hobby. (asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/search-team-fails-to-locate-missing-glider-in-puncak-1447893297",
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