Update on the Missing Indonesian Helicopter Eight individuals, including one Indian citizen, were on board a chopper that vanished when it was traveling from Indonesia.
Shortly after leaving Borneo Island, contact with the chopper was lost. The search is still in on, but thus far there has been no result. Six people were on board the chopper, together with the pilot as well as engineer.
Suddenly, a chopper from Indonesia vanished. This chopper carried eight passengers, one of them was Indian. But soon after departure, the aircraft lost communication. The helicopter has not yet been located despite the ongoing search.
On Monday, this helicopter departed from Borneo Island in Indonesia. The helicopter lost communication after a while in flight. On Tuesday, the hunt for the helicopter is still ongoing.
Contact was lost at a considerable distance
A pilot, an engineer, and six passengers were on board the Astindo Air BK 117 D3 helicopter, according to Indonesian news agency Antara. The chopper abruptly lost communication Monday after taking off from Indonesia as it was close to the Mandin Damar waterfall in Mentawe, South Kalimantan province.
Eight people were on board
Santha Kumar, an Indian citizen, was also on board the chopper that vanished from Indonesia. The names of the other people on board the helicopter are Iboy Irfan Rosa, Claudine Quito, Andis Risa Pasulu, Yudi Febrian, Mark Veren, Ing Hendra, and Captain Hariyanto.
As the leader of the organization searching for the helicopter, I, Putu Sudyana, stated:
Since simultaneous deployment in the same region may endanger the combined search and rescue team, two more helicopters have also been deployed in the search operation to guarantee safety.
The search is still ongoing
There are 140 rescue personnel from several agencies on the ground in addition to the airborne search effort. The search effort is also receiving assistance from locals. The search effort is ongoing across a 27-kilometer radius with the assistance of air support.