Eight individuals tragically lost their lives in a helicopter crash that occurred shortly after the aircraft took off and disappeared from radar. The incident took place during a journey over Borneo’s extensive palm oil plantations.
The helicopter, an Airbus H130 owned by PT Matthew Air Nusantara, lost contact only five minutes after departure from Melawi district in West Kalimantan province. The destination was a palm oil plantation in Kubu Raya district.
After a search operation, the wreckage was found in the forests of Sekadau district, where the bodies of the two crew members and six passengers were recovered. All the individuals on board, including a Malaysian national, were males, as confirmed by civil aviation director general Lukman F. Laisa.
Indonesia, with a population of approximately 270 million, has unfortunately experienced multiple transportation accidents, including airplane and helicopter crashes, and ferry sinkings. In a separate incident in January, a plane crashed on Sulawesi island, resulting in the loss of 11 lives.
The search and rescue team located the crash site of the aircraft, recovering various parts of the wreckage. The plane was en route from Yogyakarta to Makassar when it went off radar, causing a tragic outcome for the crew members and passengers onboard.