Russian food relief chopper missing in Irian Jaya

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)