Governor, VIPs survive chopper crash
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
An Army helicopter carrying a number of top local officials crashed in Maluku province on Tuesday, after its tail hit a building during takeoff, the military said.
Although several crew members and passengers suffered minor injuries and the aircraft's tail and rotor were badly damaged, everyone on board the Bell 412 chopper survived the accident.
The helicopter went down on Wetar island in West Southeast Maluku regency at about 11:45 a.m. local time, around five minutes after taking off from the Iwoki soccer field, said spokesman for the Wirasakti Military Command in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Capt. Kuwat.
He said that as the chopper was hovering about 15 meters above the ground, it was hit by a strong wind and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing.
But, it later hit a house and plummeted, Kuwat added.
Aboard the ill-fated chopper operated by the Udayana Military Command were Maluku Governor Karel Alber Ralahalu, Patimura Military commander Maj. Gen. Syarifuddin and Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Aditya Warman.
Other passengers were the Maluku naval base commander, Maluku's chief prosecutor, the regent of West Southeast Maluku and a businessman.
The aircraft crew members were pilot Major Lisman, co-pilot First Lt. Yudi M. Dili, mechanics First Sgt. Mustajab and avionics engineer Second Sgt. Dwi Yulianto.
The governor and his entourage were traveling back from an official trip to Kupang, where they discussed measures with East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo on Monday to fight illegal logging and timber smuggling to neighboring East Timor.
The group was using the helicopter to observe firsthand sea routes used by timber smugglers from several islands in West Southeast Maluku.
The crash was the latest in a series of military chopper accidents over the past few months, which were mostly blamed on bad weather.
On Dec. 25, 2004, Indonesia Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto ordered that all TNI helicopters be temporarily grounded the day after a helicopter crash in Wonosobo, Central Java, in which 14 Air Force personnel were killed.
On Dec. 24, a Navy helicopter plummeted into a river in Nabire, Papua, killing five. In October, eight military personnel were killed when an Army Bell 205 helicopter crashed in Bireuen, Aceh.