Helicopter crash kills three in C. Sulawesi

Helicopter crash kills three in C. Sulawesi

JAKARTA (JP): A helicopter belonging to PT Gatari with five
crew members aboard crashed into the sea in Donggala, Central
Sulawesi, killing three people on Saturday, a press report said
yesterday.

A spokesman for that Central Sulawesi office of
transportation, Lusty Soegito, said that one person was still
unaccounted for and identified the only survivor as co-pilot
John Marjono.

He said pilot Abdul Rahman, 45, was still missing and presumed
dead. The search continued yesterday, rescue workers finding the
bodies of load master Andi Basri, 35, mechanic Soemarno, 44, and
Philippine mechanic Roger Victoria, 35.

Mardjono is safe and well, according to the doctors in the
Parigi General Hospital who treated him, Antara reported.

Up to yesterday afternoon, search and rescue workers assisted
by local residents were still in the dark as to the whereabouts
of the pilot and the helicopter.

SAR officials believe the wreckage was swept away by the high
seas after first sighting it lying upside down on a coral reef
just hours before the search operation was mounted.

"The crash site was located but when we arrived, the wreckage
had disappeared," said Karel Sampe, director of the Mutiara
airport of Palu who joined in the search with the SAR team.

The Bell 212 helicopter was on its way from the East
Kalimantan town of Balikpapan to Gorontalo in Central Sulawesi
when it went down five miles off Parigi subdistrict at 3.10 p.m.

One hour before the accident, the helicopter stopped in Palu
for refueling. Earlier, the pilot reported engine trouble around
110 kilometers from Gorontalo.

Karel said high waves had complicated the search for the
missing crew member. SAR workers yesterday focused their
operation on Tomini Bay. (pan)