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poorly managed runway in the Bintang Mountains in West Papua, took its toll on Wednesday morning as a Twin Otter airplane operated by Susi Air crashed onto a mountain slope after it attempted to avoid a local resident passing the runway.

The accident killed copilot Albert Citores Gallego of Spain. Pilot Jessie Becker, a New Zealand national, survived and was in critical condition at a Timika hospital.

“Both were alive when we evacuated them. Albert died on the way to the hospital,” National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) spokesperson Gagah Prakoso said, adding that the agency had evacuated the aircraft, found dozens of miles from the Supaga airport.

Susi Air spokesperson Capt. Androyogi said the airplane, which carried food cargo and gasoline from Nabire, was in good condition and the pilots were among the most experienced in the company. There was a person passing the runway at Sugapa Airport when the plane attempted to land, he said.

“The pilot decided to fly back up, but the area was surrounded by mountains and cliffs, making it very difficult to do,” Androyogi told The Jakarta Post.

Androyogi said Becker had been deployed to Papua earlier this year. Becker had also flown with Susi Air in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Director general for Air Transport Herry Bhakti said initial investigations confirmed Androyogi’s statement. Herry said the airplane had to make an emergency maneuver.

“It takes a very experienced pilot to handle the difficult terrain in Papua … However, we cannot determine the exact cause of the accident until further investigation,” Herry said in a radio interview.

The crash in the Bintang Mountains was the second deadly accident involving Susi Air in Papua. Susi Air’s Cessna 208-B Caravan crashed in September in the mountainous Yahukimo district on its way to Kenyem from Wamena, killing its two foreign pilots.

Susi Air vowed to thoroughly evaluate the latest incident and to meet with its customers, but would not stop its operations in Papua.

“We don’t see Papua as an object for business. Our aircraft carry staple foodstuffs and gasoline for Papuan residents on a daily basis. We can’t imagine if we had to leave,” he said.

Aviation expert Chappy Hakim said that no parties could be blamed for the accident before the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) completed its investigation.

“We can evaluate a few things, including the operator, the runway and the pilots … How a civilian could be on the runway and so on. This way, we will find which party was responsible for the accident,” Chappy said.

Over the past three months, there have been six airplane accidents, including the still missing Cessna belonging to Nusa Flying School. The National Search and Rescue Agency announced it had stopped the aerial search on the seventh day of searching on Tuesday. (swd)