Helicopter crash a 'pure accident': Army

Helicopter crash a 'pure accident': Army

JAKARTA (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo has
pronounced a "pure accident" as the cause of the crash of an Army
helicopter in East Timor earlier this month, Antara reported
yesterday.

The Army's investigation confirmed the preliminary finding
that the Bell 205 aircraft crashed after hitting a tree and the
side of a mountain in bad weather, Gen. Subagyo said.

It was not shot down by East Timor separatist rebels, he told
reporters during a visit to Bandung, West Java.

All 12 officers on board the helicopter were killed in the
June 4 crash in Viqueque regency in East Timor. They included
Maj. Gen. Yudomo Sastro Suhardjo, the chief of the Udayana
Regional Military Command, and Col. Slamat Sidabutar, the chief
of the East Timor military command.

The Udayana Regional Military Command oversees provinces of
Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara and East Timor.

Yudomo had only served in the post for eight days, having
replaced Maj. Gen. Syahrir M.S., who had been appointed chief of
the Army's special force (Kopassus).

Subagyo said the investigation team, formed a day after the
crash, had completed its work and presented its report, complete
with photographs.

Meanwhile, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. I Dewa Putu Rai announced
yesterday the appointment of Maj. Gen. Adam R. Damiri, chief of
the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) First Division,
as the new chief of the Udayana command replacing Yudomo.

Maj. Adam is a 1972 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy.

Col. Suhartono Suratman, chief of Kopassus Group 3 for
education and training, will fill the post of Sidabutar, Putu Rai
said.

Brig. Gen. I Gede Dewa Purnawa, deputy chief of the Army Staff
and Command School (Seskoad), will take over Adam's Kostrad
position.

Two other appointments were made to fill posts left vacant due
to fatalities in the crash. Lt. Col. Edy Sunardi has been
appointed assistant for intelligence affairs to the Udayana
Command chief of staff, and Lt. Col. Budi Heriyanto will be
assistant for operations to the Udayana Military Command chief of
staff.

Edy replaces Col. Pangandaran Napitulu, and Budi replaces Col.
Satria Buana.

Putu Rai also confirmed that Brig. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif,
currently chief of staff of the Brawijaya regional military
command, will become the new Armed Forces (ABRI) spokesman,
replacing Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan.

Mokodongan will soon be assigned an educational task at the
National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas). (emb/imn)