Air Force chopper goes missing

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

An Air Force helicopter went missing on Wednesday near Jayapura in Papua, adding further to the long list of military aviation accidents in the country. The Twin Pack helicopter was carrying two pilots and two other crew members when contact with it was lost on Wednesday morning.

A search and rescue team was quickly deployed but as of Wednesday evening, the ill-fated helicopter had yet to be found.

A senior Air Force officer said the aircraft took off from Sentani military airfield near Jayapura at 8.35 a.m. on route to Benawa hamlet some 150 kilometers southeast of Jayapura.

The helicopter was on a regular training mission, said Col. Anang Murdianto, the commander of Jayapura Air Force Base.

Traffic control officers in Sentani lost contact with the helicopter at 10 a.m., prompting senior Air Force officers in the city to order a search. A search and rescue team on board a Puma helicopter set out soon after but returned empty handed later.

The search continued until darkness fell at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday and was expected to resume Thursday morning.

On board the missing helicopter were pilot Capt. Beceau, co- pilot First Lt. Satria and mechanics Sgt. Major Haryadi and Chief Sgt. Purnomo.

The disappearance of the helicopter comes three months after an Air Force aircraft went down at Jabung Hill, Malang, East Java, at the end of July. The Bronco OV-10 was totally destroyed and both pilot and co-pilot died in the accident.

An aging fleet has often been blamed for the series of military aviation accidents over the past few years, but Sagom Tamboen, an Air Force spokesman, said the Twin Pack helicopter was in good condition when it set out on Wednesday's flight.