Heru Andriyanto

Rescuers carrying a victim to the hospital. (Photo: Rezza Estily, Antara)

Military Chopper Crashes, Killing Three Officers

An Army helicopter monitoring training exercises crashed in bad weather near the West Java town of Cianjur on Monday, killing three of five officers aboard and injuring two others.

It was the third crash involving military aircraft in two months, with the previous incidents becoming an election issue in the ongoing presidential campaign.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Christian Zebua said on Monday evening that the helicopter was flying in torrential rains and strong winds when it crashed in a mountainous area in Pagelaran subdistrict in Cianjur at around 2 p.m.

“The aircraft was still [classified as] airworthy so presumably the accident was caused by bad weather,” he said.

The German-made Bolkow BO-105 helicopter was manufactured in 1988, Zebua said, but he didn’t say when it entered service.

“The helicopter was on a training mission to monitor ground troops of the [Army Special Forces] Kopassus,” he said. “It’s flight route was between Batujajar and Citatah.”

Two passengers, identified as Col. Ricky Samuel and Capt. Agung Gunarto, were killed instantly while co-pilot First Lt. Yuli Sasongko died en route to the hospital. Pilot Second Lt. Hadi Isnarto remains in a serious condition with the fifth passenger, identified as First Lt. Agus Sudarso, sustaining only minor injuries.

The accident came less than three weeks after an Air Force Hercules C-130 transport plane crashed in the East Java town of Magetan on May 20, killing 101 people. On April 6, a Fokker-27 training aircraft burst into flames after crashing into a hangar at Hussein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java, killing all 24 people aboard.

Critics, including presidential candidates Megawati Sukarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla, have implied that budgetary shortfalls for the maintenance of military equipment were at the root of the spate of air accidents.

In response, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in May that the government would increase the defense budget once the global economic crisis ends to meet minimum operational requirements, while admitting the current budget of Rp 33 trillion ($3.2 billion) was well below ideal levels.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has said his office would attempt to increase the weapons and equipment maintenance budgets for the Armed Forces from Rp 600 billion to Rp 700 billion.

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