Survivor unaware of plane crash

TARAKAN, East Kalimantan: International safety procedures during flight require aircraft passengers to wear seat belts.

In perhaps a one-in-a-million case, going against the rule saved the life of a youth who claims he survived a plane crash because he defied the ruling, albeit unintentionally.

Bangau Samuel, 20, told Antara on Thursday that he had unfastened his seat belt before falling asleep when the Britten Norman aircraft carrying him and nine other people crashed atop a mountain eight kilometers from its destination in the East Kalimantan district of Long Bawan on Tuesday last week.

"When I woke up, I was surprised to find that I was in the jungle. Parts of my body were sore, but I didn't realize what had happened. I didn't even know the plane had crashed and how I had gotten out of the aircraft," he recalled.

Bangau's experience appears to resemble a jet fighter pilot who ejects from his aircraft to survive.

A farmer in Pa Padi village found a weak and starving Bangau on Monday.

A rescue team declared all the people aboard dead, including Bangau's father Yuni Samuel. Many have questioned the capability of the national search and rescue body following the reappearance of Bangau, who has avoid filling the grave provided for him.