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)