Three days after the two pilots of the aircraft went missing, rescue workers continued to be hampered by inclement weather, mountainous terrain covered in dense forest and conflicting reports from locals on the ground.

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), members of the Wanadri nature lovers group and ORARI amateur radio, police and Indonesian Military personnel continued their search in Pangalengan area in Bandung regency and the coastal area of southern Garut.

Aerial searches were ramped up Tuesday, involving two helicopters, three Trike micro-lights and a fixed wing aircraft. However, the search was called off just before 3 p.m. due to thick clouds setting in.

Senior Trike pilot Noto Cipto Nartomo, a PT Telkom employee, and Panji Gunawan, both from Bandung and the West Java Indonesian Aerosports Federation (FASI), lost contact with base on a return flight from Pangandaran, Ciamis, to Sulaeman Airstrip in Margahayu, Bandung, on Sunday.

“There were no signs of looming clouds, we descended together,” said Ivan Jayaputra, a Trike pilot who had been flying just ahead of Noto and Panji when they became separated by thick clouds.

Spirits among the search and rescue team members were lifted when Garut Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Amur Chandra Juli reported on Tuesday the discovery of a piece of torn white cloth on a steep cliff in a tea plantation in Garumukti village, Pamulihan district, Garut, and a GPS device on the border between Kertasari and Pangalengan, Bandung regency.

Amur said the search in Garut was focused on five villages in three districts — Bungbulang, Pamulihan and Pakejeng, which were along the Trike’s flight path from Pangandaran to Bandung, and where the last signal from the pilots’ cell phones had been transmitted from, according to cellular operator Telkomsel.
“We also involved villagers’ dogs in the search,” Amur said.

Aerial search coordinator Saleh Sudrajat, who is also Noto’s colleague, said the colors of Noto’s plane’s wing were predominately white, with orange, green and blue.

“We inspect the piece of white cloth to ascertain whether it was from the Trike’s wing. We are optimistic they can be found soon if the fabric was from the torn wing of the Trike,” Saleh told reporters at Sulaeman Airstrip in Bandung on Tuesday, adding that the GPS device found was of a make often fitted in Trike planes.

Saleh said the search would continue despite the weather. “[We will search] for at least seven days — which is the limit for a search for a disaster victim,” he added.

Panji’s uncle, Hidayat, said he was hopeful his nephew could be found alive.

“Whatever his condition is, we hope that he is still alive. He’s a good person and the backbone of the family,” Hidayat said. He said Panji had been a member of the FASI for five years.

Popular

Great Barrier Reef hit by record bleaching

Govt to undo latest curbs on personal imports

Middle East on edge as Israel and Iran trade threats