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Remains of Cessna pilot found in Papuan forest
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Ready to go: A joint team comprising Indonesian Military and National Police personnel prepare to carry out an operation to search for a Cessna Caravan aircraft that crashed in the Bintang Mountains regency, Papua, on April 12. (Courtesy of Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) Papua /File)
T
he body of Rio Pasaribu, the captain of the Cessna Caravan aircraft that crashed in the Bintang Mountains in Papua, was recovered by a joint search-and-rescue team on Friday.
The small plane belonging to airline company PT Spirit Avia Sentosa (Flying SAS) went missing while flying from Tanah Merah Airport in Bouven Digoel regency to Oksibil Airport in Bintang on Wednesday.
The plane was reportedly carrying more than 1-ton of food supplies.
A joint search operation found the wreckage at the Bukit Anem cliff in Bintang the following day.
“The body was evacuated by the search-and-rescue team using a helicopter belonging to [mining company] PT Freeport Indonesia,” Jayapura rescue team head Suyatno said in Jayapura on Friday.
The body was then flown using a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter plane belonging to SAS from Oksibil Airport to Sentani Airport in the Papua’s provincial capital of Jayapura.
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The body is scheduled to be flown to Jakarta via the Pondok Cabe Airport in South Tangerang, Banten before it is handed over to the victim’s family.
Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said the rescue team found the body after reaching the crash site on foot.
The plane was destroyed and in pieces after seemingly hitting the mountain cliff before crashing to the ground, Suyatno said.
The crash site was around 10 kilometers from Oksibil, the capital of Bintang. (bbs)
