Search for helicopter debris continues

JAKARTA (JP): Search for helicopter debris continued off the Java Sea on Sunday, following the discovery of the last three of four fatalities of the aircraft chartered by Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) Indonesia which crashed on Wednesday.

An officer from Tanjung Priok's marine police told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that a team of four skilled divers was deployed to help ARCO's search and rescue (SAR) team.

"Attempts to find debris from the helicopter are still underway and we are only assisting the SAR team from the company," Second Sgt. Noto said, adding that the helicopter's propeller was recovered at 5:05 p.m. in Sunday's search.

The remaining three fatalities -- state oil and gas company Pertamina physician attached to ARCO, Asri Basyir, helicopter loadmaster Atok Makatita and helicopter captain Edward Tampubolon -- were found on Friday and Saturday.

Kompas daily reported Asri's body was discovered separately from the helicopter debris at around 4 p.m. on Friday. Three hours later, the rescue team discovered Atok's body inside the chopper's cabin.

On Saturday, the body of 46-year-old Edward was found inside the helicopter's cockpit, still fastened by his seat belt.

Bodies of the helicopter's crewmen and passenger were claimed by their respective families after postmortem examinations at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

On Wednesday, the body of Bambang Suharto, an ARCO security guard, was recovered less than an hour after the crash.

The Bell 206 was chartered by ARCO, a subsidiary of U.S. oil and gas giant Atlantic Richfield Company, to fly Asri out to perform routine medical checkups on employees in the field.

At about 10 a.m., the helicopter crashed into the sea during a flight from the Foxtrot platform to the BCS platform in the Arjuna offshore field, about 100 kilometers north of Jakarta.

ARCO, the country's largest gas supplier on the domestic market, has been operating in the country for 30 years. (emf)