Search continues for helicopter crash victims

Search continues for helicopter crash victims

JAKARTA (JP): A search and rescue team continued its search
for the missing crewmen and passenger from the helicopter
chartered by Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) Indonesia which
crashed in the Java Sea on Wednesday.

The head of security, health and relations at the foreign
contractors management body of state oil and gas company
Pertamina, Sidick Nitikusuma, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday
the rescue team was searching for the missing persons from
morning to afternoon around the crash site in the Arjuna offshore
field around 100 kilometers north of Jakarta.

The missing persons were identified as helicopter captain
Edward Tampubolon, a Pertamina physician attached to ARCO, Asri
Basyir, and helicopter loadmaster Atok (not Datok as printed on
this page on Thursday). Tampubolon and Atok were employees of PT
Derazona, which owns the helicopter.

"The search effort will not stop until the missing persons are
found," Sidick said.

He said the search and rescue team included 10 divers from the
National Search and Rescue Body.

The Bell 206 was chartered by ARCO, a subsidiary of United
States oil and gas giant Atlantic Richfield Company, for routine
operations before it crashed.

Medical checkups

The helicopter crashed into the sea on Wednesday morning
during a flight from the Foxtrot platform to the BCS platform in
the Arjuna offshore field. The helicopter was carrying Asri to
the BCS platform to perform medical checkups on ARCO workers
there.

The body of Bambang Suharto, an ARCO security guard, was
recovered from the crash.

Sidick said Bambang's body was taken by his relatives to
Surabaya for burial.

He said the search and rescue team, armed with metal
detectors, had discovered parts of the chopper buried in up to 70
centimeters of clay at the bottom of the sea, which is around 50
meters deep around the crash site.

However, the team had yet to find the main body of the
helicopter as of Thursday afternoon.

"What we have found so far is debris from the chopper; a
doctor's bag and a black bag belonging to Bambang," Chief Sgt.
Sucipto of Tanjung Priok's marine police said.

A source at Pertamina said the search and rescue team had
hired several shamans to locate the missing persons and the body
of the helicopter. (emf/jsk)