•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Bad weather may have caused an Army helicopter to crash in Cianjur, West Java, last week, an officer said on Friday, citing preliminary results of a crash investigation.

Brig. Gen. Christian Zebua, spokesman of the Army, said a team of officers were still trying to determine the cause of the incident.

“They have yet to wrap up their investigation, but provisional findings by the team showed that the accident was likely caused by bad weather,” Zebua said during a meeting with journalists at the Army’s headquarters in Central Jakarta.

At least three military officers were killed and two others injured when a training helicopter crashed in Cianjur.

Zebua said on Friday that the German-made Bolkow BO-105 helicopter had been flying under dark clouds and heavy rain, which likely obscured the pilot’s vision during his approach to the landing area.

Zebua dismissed suggestions that the age of the helicopter, which was manufactured in 1988, was a contributing factor in the crash. “All defense equipment we are using fulfills [safety] requirements,” he said.

Asked when the team expected to announce the final results of its investigation, Zebua said according to the country’s Freedom of Information Law, the military would be allowed to keep defense information, such as a crash probe report, secret.

“We are not obliged to announce results of the investigation to the public,” Zebua said.

The helicopter was on a training mission to monitor ground troops of the Army’s elite Special Forces (Kopassus) when the accident happened.

The three deceased victims were identified as the commander of Kopassus’s infantry training center, Col. Ricky Samuel, Capt. Agung Gunarto, and co-pilot First Lt. Yuli Sasongko. The injured passengers were pilot Second Lt. Hadi Isnarto and First Lt. Agus Sudarso.