5 killed in plane crash

Theresia Sufa, Bogor

Five people were killed when their Cessna Aves 185 went down in Lido Lake, Sukabumi, West Java, on Sunday after an emergency landing attempt.

The rescue team declared all five people on board dead, four hours after the accident, which took place at about 12:15 p.m.

The team was unable to gain access to the wreckage located in the 18-meter deep lake but found its propeller and wheels.

According to secretary of the Bogor branch of the Indonesian Aerosport Federation, Bing Sutanto, two of the passengers were Australian parachutists, identified as Wili Elison and Priscilla Hall.

"They have been in the country for two days," he said.

The other three were identified as Maj. Yohan Pahlawan, the pilot, Edi Kristiono, a parachute jumping instructor from Aves Aerosport Club and Roni Hendriono.

Roni is also an Air Force member and aerosport athlete, specializing in synchronized skydiving and in-air video photography.

Cijeruk Police detectives chief First Insp. Bektiana told reporters that the plane, which departed from Lido Aerosport Club in Bogor, had to attempt an emergency landing on the lake after developing engine trouble.

As of Sunday evening, the rescue team was trying to decide if they should stop the search for the bodies until more sophisticated rescue equipment arrived from Jakarta.

The accident is the second this year after two ultralight pilots died when their plane crashed in a field near Wates Jaya village in Cijeruk, Bogor, on April 15.

The victims were identified as Norman Mokodompit, a flying instructor at the Lido Aerosport Club, and Teguh Arif Wicaksono, an instructor at the Pegasus Aerosport Club. Both men suffered fatal injuries in the crash, which occurred about two minutes after takeoff.

Witnesses said the plane made a sharp turn to avoid an electric tower in the field before it crashed.

On Feb. 7, 2003, a Deraya Flying School Cessna went missing on a flight from Semarang, Central Java, to Jakarta. It was piloted by Berti F. Nausina, 33, along with students Gagak Eskandaria, 21, and Erwin Bunadir, 23.

The missing plane was found downed on the slopes of Mount Ciremai in West Java.

In December 2002, a training Piper Dakota crashed and hit a house in Serdang Wetan, Legok district, Tangerang, injuring the two on board and killing a local resident on the ground.

The light plane was flown by Yudhi Mustari, a student of the Curug flight training center, who was accompanied by his colleague Iko Trianda.