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Pilot of BSD air crash tried emergency landing: KNKT
The KNKT's ongoing air accident investigation has found indications that pilot Capt. Pulung Darmawan had deliberately diverted from his flight path to attempt an emergency landing in the empty field where the plane's wreckage was recovered.
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Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) sift through the wreckage of a light aircraft that crashed on May 19, 2024 in South Tangerang, Banten. (The Jakarta Post/Antara)
T
he National Transportation Safety Committee has found early signs that the pilot of the Tecnam P2006T that crashed on Sunday in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), Banten, was attempting an emergency landing at a vacant lot in the upmarket residential area.
KNKT chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said on Monday that the only way the light aircraft could have crashed in BSD was that pilot Pulu Darmawan was attempting an emergency landing after earlier deviating from his original flight path to Pondok Cabe Airport in South Tangerang.
"Yes, we found indications that the pilot intended to go to the empty field [where it crashed] to attempt an emergency landing," Soejanto said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Air accident investigators have confirmed that the aircraft took off from Tanjung Lesung airstrip in northern Banten for a scheduled landing at Pondok Cabe Airport.
The plane, which was owned and managed by the Indonesia Flying Club in Pondok Cabe, went down in heavy weather on Sunday afternoon, killing all three people onboard.
The victims have been identified as pilot Pulung, copilot Suwanda and flight engineer Farid Ahmad. Their remains have been buried in their hometowns of, respectively, Semarang in Central Java, and Cirebon and West Bandung in West Java.
Witnesses told local media that the plane seemed to be having a problem with its engine, which was emitting smoke prior to crashing in an empty field at Sunburst office park in the Central Business District (CBD) of the planned community.
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Suherdjoko contributed to this article from Semarang.
