Three victims of crash found dead

Three victims of crash found dead

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post/Padang

A search and rescue team found on Friday the remains of three
passengers in a helicopter that crashed a day earlier in the
Ladang Padi area near the West Sumatra provincial capital of
Padang.

The team was still locating the bodies of three other victims
in the accident on Friday. The co-pilot, Second. Insp. Asep, was
earlier found alive.

Asep, whose knees were severely injured, was found by a search
and rescue team while he was crawling out of the jungle for help.
He is being treated at M. Djamil Hospital, Padang. "Asep can not
talk as he is still deeply traumatized by the accident," a
spokesman from the West Sumatra Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Akmil,
said.

The helicopter carried six mid-ranking police officers and a
journalist when it went down in Ladang Padi area on Thursday at
about 3 p.m. The six police officers were Sr. Comr. Harrison
Harmaini, the director of crime division at West Sumatra
provincial police, Sr. Comr. Bambang Irawan, the director of
intelligence division, Adj. Sr. Jornalis Johor, the chief of
criminal identification unit, Second Brig. Welly Permana, pilot
Comr. Donis, co-pilot Second Insp. Asep and a journalist with the
Singgalang daily Herman Tasrial. The bodies so far found have not
yet been identified.

The officers were on the way to Padang after inspecting a
suspicious forest fire in South Solok regency. About 10 minutes
from Tabing Airport in Padang, the helicopter lost contact with
flight control tower.

Witnesses said that they saw the helicopter flying in bad
weather and said it caught fire before it crashed into the
forest.

The inclement weather and mountainous terrain has slowed the
search and rescue effort.

A police aircraft last crashed in February, when a Casa 212
airplane nosed-dived into an estuary meters in front of Papua's
Sarmi Airport, killing 15 people. Three people survived.

Engine problems were determined to be the cause of that
accident.

Air accidents have also been common among military aircraft
during the past few years, heightening concerns about its aging
fleet.

Military and police have complained they are underfunded and
had to resort to cannibalizing parts from other aircraft to keep
their aging fleets in the air.