Indonesian Firefighting Helicopter Crashes into the Barito River in South Kalimantan: One Indonesian Crew Member Killed, Two Foreign Crew Rescued
JAKARTA — An Indonesian firefighting helicopter crashed into the Barito River in South Kalimantan province on November 8 while scooping water, killing one Indonesian crew member and leaving two foreign crew members rescued, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said.
The aircraft, an EC225LP Super Puma (registration VH-HGM) chartered by the agency for water-bombing operations, went down at about 11:58 a.m. local time near Tabatan Baru village in Kuripan district, Barito Kuala regency, after losing control during a manoeuvre following a water pickup with its bambi bucket, an incident captured on amateur video. Two foreign crew members were pulled from the river by local residents. The Indonesian crew member, helicopter landing officer Yayan Supyansuri, was initially missing; a joint search team recovered his body on Sunday afternoon and took it to Jenamas in South Barito regency. Indonesian media named the two survivors as Michael John Betteridge of Australia and Hugh Andrew John Page of New Zealand.
It was the second crash involving an Indonesian firefighting helicopter in days. On November 4, a military helicopter crashed into waters off Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan during a firefighting mission; the military said one of the eight people on board died and five were rescued. Indonesia is battling its worst forest fires in a decade, and the cause of Sunday's crash is under investigation.
(Source: Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB))
Source: Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一架 H225「超级美洲豹」直升机（资料图）。乌克兰国家应急服务局 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: An H225 Super Puma helicopter (file photo). By the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
