Panic as Coffin 'Left Behind' at Flores Airport, Wings Air Cites Miscommunication
Yansen Kebingin and Sandro Kebingin panicked and were confused when they arrived at Gewayantana Larantuka Airport in East Flores on Monday (3/8/2026). The body of Blasius Avelino D. Kebingin (25), which had been flown as cargo, was nowhere to be found when they checked. Blasius was Yansen’s cousin and Sandro’s elder brother.
Blasius, a university student, died in Jakarta due to illness. A day after his death, Yansen and Sandro escorted the body, with its final destination being their village in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
Yansen said he had checked the cargo section upon arriving at Gewayantana Larantuka Airport on Monday. “But the body was not in the cargo hold,” Yansen said when contacted by detikBali on Tuesday (4/8/2026).
He also lamented that, with the departure from Larantuka to Lembata delayed, the family had suffered losses from chartering a fast boat. “So we chartered it twice. Yesterday it did not happen, so the family chartered again for today. Because the body was supposedly being sent today,” he said.
Linus Kia, Blasius’s uncle, said Blasius died in Jakarta on Sunday (2/8/2026). The following day, the body was flown from Jakarta to Larantuka on a Wings Air aircraft. The flight was scheduled to stop over in Surabaya and Kupang.
“The ticket and cargo bound for Larantuka were purchased together by his younger brother (Yansen Kebingin), and it was said the departure from Jakarta was on 3 August 2026. The route transited Jakarta - Surabaya - Kupang, then to Larantuka, where it would be picked up by fast boat to Lewoleba in Lembata Regency, but the body was not there in Larantuka,” Linus explained when contacted by detikBali on Tuesday.
According to him, cargo checks from Jakarta to Surabaya and Surabaya to Kupang were declared in order. Upon arrival in Kupang, Yansen and Sandro, who were escorting the body, immediately reported to the Wings Air counter in Kupang.
“The staff said it would be transferred automatically. So my nephew was directed to the waiting room to continue the flight to Larantuka,” Linus said.
The family in Lembata, he continued, had already prepared to receive the body. They had even chartered a fast boat from Lewoleba in Lembata to Larantuka in line with the schedule for 3 August. However, when they waited in Larantuka, it turned out the body was not brought.
Feeling there was no clarity, the family then complained to the Lion Air counter in Larantuka and telephoned Jakarta. After checking, the family only learned that the body would be flown to Larantuka on 4 August.
“The airline’s explanation was that they were following the date stated, which was the 4th, today. Yet my nephew, who escorted the body, objected because all the tickets were booked for the 3rd. Whether it was an error in Jakarta or something else, we do not know,” he asserted.
As a result of the delay, Linus said, the family suffered losses because the fast boat charter from Lembata to Larantuka was wasted.
It is understood that Blasius Kebingin was a student at the National University (Unas) in Jakarta. He died in Jakarta due to illness.
“He initially complained of chest pain. The family was never told he was ill. According to his flatmates, he had chest pain and went to sleep on Saturday night. His friends went to his room, found him unresponsive, and only then rushed him to hospital, where he was declared dead,” Linus concluded.
Wings Air Denies the Body Was Left Behind
Rinus Zebua, District Manager of Wings Air (Lion Group) for the Kupang region, denied that the body was flown late on the Kupang-Larantuka route. According to him, based on the travel documents, the cargo flight of the body from Kupang to Larantuka was indeed scheduled for Tuesday, not Monday.
“The body only arrived in Kupang on Monday. For the continuation to Larantuka, according to the recorded travel documents, it was Kupang-Larantuka today, not the same day yesterday,” Rinus explained by telephone on Tuesday (4/8/2026).
“We have also contacted the cargo agent handling the journey, and they said there was misinformation given to the family of the passenger who arranged it in Jakarta,” he added.
Rinus explained that the purchase of the passenger tickets and the arrangement of the body’s cargo were done separately. The cargo agent also did not arrange an accompanying ticket.
“It seems inaccurate to say we abandoned it. Because the purchase of passenger tickets and cargo was completely separate. The sales were separate,” he said.
“I also do not understand why the ticket purchase was also separate, because when we spoke to the cargo agent, they did not arrange an accompanying ticket, they only handled the cargo,” Rinus continued.
He explained that Wings Air had contacted the family and apologised for the inconvenience.
He also asked the cargo travel agent to coordinate directly with the family regarding compensation. “I have even asked the cargo travel agent handling it to coordinate with the family regarding whatever must be compensated,” he added.
Rinus said that if the misinformation had been conveyed earlier, the airline could actually have helped, as the cargo of a body requires special handling.
“This was indeed beyond the airline’s control, as the cargo documents showed departure on Tuesday. It might have been possible for us to help. However, the information only came after the Larantuka flight had departed, and only then did this fuss arise,” he concluded.