Pilot of missionary chopper found dead in Wamena

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

The pilot of a Bell 206 helicopter, U.S. national Neil Roesler, 30, was found dead after his helicopter plummeted to the ground near Komamil village, a remote village in Wamena town, on Monday.

His body was discovered at 11:25 a.m. local time on Tuesday and evacuated to Wamena by a six-member search and rescue team from the Freeport mining company in Timika, using a chartered Air Fast Long Ranger plane.

Helimission, a missionary flight operator in Wamena, which owned the helicopter, is waiting for the military in Jayapura to supply embalming fluid to preserve the body. His remains will be flown to the U.S.

The rescue team head, Boas Padang, said the cause of the accident was not clear. The chopper, which was on a mission flight, crashed on a mountain in Koek valley. Roesler was already dead when the wreckage helicopter was found.

Jayapura air force base commander Col. Anang Murdianto told reporters in Jayapura on Tuesday that the helicopter Roesler was flying had been reported missing at 4:55 p.m. Monday while after it failed to land at Wamena. It took off from Obokoin village at 3:37 p.m. and had been scheduled to arrive in Wamena at 4:30 p.m. local time.

The moment it was confirmed missing, four other missionary helicopters from the Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) began searching for it.

The Timika rescue team arrived at 11:05 a.m. local time Tuesday and located the wreckage at 11:25 a.m. near Komamil village.

Helimission is a missionary flight operator in Papua that flies into the hinterlands. It has two other helicopters, one of which is being repaired in Singapore and the other is being repaired at Wamena airport.

The mountainous landscape of Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, prevents people from using land transportation and forces them to rely on air transportation to reach remote parts of the province.