Bad weather hampers aircraft evacuation in West Java

Heavy rain has hampered a rescue team evacuating victims of a Trike aircraft that went missing a month ago around Wayang Mountain in Bandung regency, West Java.

“We are still trying to evacuate them, but the area is difficult to be penetrate,” Sulaiman airstrip flight commander Col. Gutomo told tempointeraktif.com on Monday.

The rescue team spent seven-hours before reaching the accident location, Gutomo said.

“It is a very hard terrain. The visibility is only two meters,” he said.

The two men flying the aircraft, senior Trike pilot Noto Cipto Nartomo and Panji Gunawan, both from Bandung and members of the West Java Indonesian Aerosports Federation (FASI), went missing when attempting to return their Pegasus Trike PK-S 135 aircraft through thick clouds to a base in Bandung.