Eight people have been killed after a helicopter crashed in a remote area of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.
The Airbus H130, operated by PT Matthew Air Nusantara and registered as PK-CFX, took off at 8:34am local time from a palm oil plantation in Melawi district. It was heading to another plantation in Kubu Raya district, approximately 150 miles to the west, when contact was lost about five minutes after departure. An emergency signal was sent at 8:39am.
An aerial search uncovered debris, with fragments believed to be the tail of the helicopter spotted approximately three kilometres west of where contact was lost, according to Basarnas head Mohammad Syafii. A joint search team subsequently located the wreckage in the Nanga Taman district of Sekadau regency, in dense forest with rugged, hilly terrain.
All eight on board — one pilot, one engineer, and six passengers, one of whom was a Malaysian national — were found dead. The operation concluded Friday morning after all bodies were recovered.
“Eight passengers have been found; all were deceased,” said Sekadau police Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit Zainal Abidin, as reported by local news outlet detikKalimantan. Sekadau police Public Relations Officer Triyono confirmed: “All eight bodies have been transported to Pontianak.”
The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and the Ministry of Transportation oversaw recovery efforts, with around 20 rescuers initially deployed alongside support from an Air Force helicopter. I Made Junetra, head of the local search and rescue agency, confirmed the scale of the operation to AFP.
The crash is the latest in a series of aviation accidents in Indonesia, an archipelago nation that depends heavily on air and helicopter transport to connect remote regions, particularly for industries such as palm oil.
In September last year, a helicopter carrying six passengers and two crew members crashed shortly after takeoff from South Kalimantan province, killing all eight. Less than two weeks later, a helicopter accident in the remote Papua district of Ilaga killed four more. In January, a turboprop plane chartered by the fisheries ministry crashed into a mountain on Sulawesi island, killing all 10 people on board.
The Transportation Ministry stated the incident remains under investigation and declined further immediate comment. The National Transportation Safety Committee has also been approached for updates.
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