Six officers reported dead in police aircraft crash

Six officers reported dead in police aircraft crash

JAKARTA (JP): A training aircraft belonging to the National
Police crashed near the small village of Sinar Gaya in Bogor,
West Java, yesterday morning, killing all six police officers
aboard.

One report said the plane was a Cessna but another claimed it
was a Piper Cheyenne.

A police source with the Search and Rescue team told The
Jakarta Post that Capt. Sumarno, Capt. Lili Ramli, Second Lt.
Sudaryanto, First Lt. Saragih, Second Lt. Nico Manik and Second
Sgt. Eko Permadi were killed in the crash.

Four bodies were found in the wreckage. The other two were
discovered some distance from the accident site.

The first Search and Rescue team came from the police Mobile
Brigade and was led by First Lt. Ramdani.

It took the team two hours to walk from the nearest police
station to the isolated crash site, the source said.

The six bodies were taken to the Kramajati police hospital in
East Jakarta yesterday evening. The heavily burned bodies could
not be identified.

The six were practicing a fly pass drill to prepare for the
celebration of the Indonesian Armed Forces anniversary on Oct. 5.

It is most probable that the plane exploded while in flight
and therefore the possibility of sabotage could not be excluded,
the source said.

However, Chief of General Affairs of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen.
Suyono told Antara sabotage had been ruled out because the plane
crashed after experiencing engine trouble.

The aircraft was flying from the Pondok Cabe military air base
in Ciputat, 20 kms south of Jakarta. The air base lost contact
with the small airplane at 8:00 a.m.

The pilot, Capt. Suharno, reported he was loosing contact with
the aircraft leading the drill. (01)