Russian food relief chopper missing in Irian Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): A Russian helicopter chartered by the Indonesian government to fly food relief to isolated jungle areas of Irian Jaya went missing on Friday with six people, including three Russians, on board.

The Kamov 3029 helicopter was last heard of only minutes after taking off from Wamena, the main town in the mountainous Jayawijaya regency.

"The last contact with the pilot was at 8:15 a.m., or five minutes after the helicopter took off, and we have since lost track of the helicopter," Wamena airport chief Luther Woppy said.

Bound for Mulia, a 30-minute flight from Wamena, the helicopter carried three tons of rice aid for drought victims in the capital of Puncak Jaya regency.

Airport authorities and a local joint Search & Rescue (SAR) team said they did not know if the helicopter crashed or was forced to make an emergency landing.

In dispatches to the National SAR Headquarters in Jakarta, the local team said the helicopter may have gone down between Sila village in Mapenduma district and a village in Karubaga district.

The spot is about 100 kilometers from Wamena.

Residents, the local SAR team added, saw a helicopter flying over their area on Friday morning.

Antara identified the six people aboard as the Russian crew of Capt. Anatoly Vladimir, copilot Sergey and mechanic Nicolay (no surnames were given) loadmaster Rally Misran and passengers Udin and Sonny.

The SAR team deployed on Sunday four airplanes to Mapenduma and Alama districts to locate the missing helicopter.

The head of Jayapura airport, who is also the coordinator of the SAR team, Lt. Col. Mawardi, said on Sunday the four aircraft took off from Wamena airport at 4:49 a.m.

The four aircraft were a Cessna MAF and three helicopters. An Army helicopter and an Air Force helicopter are on standby in Wamena to support the team.

The rescue team will focus on eight spots, based on the monitoring results of the National SAR.

Another team will search for the missing helicopter around Indawa village by tracing sightings by local residents.

A 3102 Kamov belonging to Russia and a Bell-206 owned by the relief organization Mission Aviation Fellowship have also been dispatched to help in the search.

The first helicopter carried seven rescue workers, and the Bell bore three other SAR members led by Jayawijaya deputy police chief, Capt. Gono, on Saturday.

"They're flying some 3,000 meters above sea level among the hilly terrain between Sila village and Mapenduma regency," Jayawijaya Police chief Lt. Col. Rubrata said.

The SAR team consists of personnel from the Jayawijaya Police precinct, Jayawijaya Mobil Brigade and Jayawijaya Military Command.

According to Luther Woppy of Wamena airport, the missing helicopter was expected to return to Wamena by 9:30 a.m. the same day.

Separately, commander of Jayapura Air Force base Lt. Col. Mawardi promised to provide further assistance if needed.

"If the two airborne SAR teams fail to find the missing helicopter, we will let an Air Force Puma helicopter from Timika join the search," he said in Wamena.(asa/bsr)