American Man Among 8 Missing After Helicopter ‘Lost Contact’ Flying Over Forest in Indonesia

An American passenger is among eight people missing after a helicopter disappeared over the forests of Indonesia.

The National Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia (SAR) said in a press release that the BK 117-D3 helicopter “lost contact” on Monday, Sept. 1, in the Kecamatan Mantewe area of South Kalimantan. According to The Independent, the helicopter lost contact just eight minutes after takeoff.

“The joint SAR team carried out a personnel and equipment briefing at 6:30 a.m. WITA, then moved on to the search sector,” SAR said. “The head of the SAR Banjarmasin office informed that the search area was expanded to 100 nautical miles, dividing the team into three Search and Rescue Units.”

The Eastindo Air helicopter had taken off from Kotabaru district in South Kalimantan at 8:46 a.m., heading for Palangkaraya city. By 8:54 a.m., it lost contact with air traffic control, ABC News reported. SAR said it was notified about the missing aircraft at 12:02 p.m.

There were eight people on board — one pilot, one engineer, and six passengers, including one American. According to The Independent, ABC News, and Indonesian outlet Antara News, they were identified as Captain Haryanto, Eng Hendra, Mark Werren, Yudi Febrian, Andys Rissa Pasulu, Santha Kumar, Claudine Quito, and Iboy Irfan Rosa.

SAR said aerial and ground searches are being carried out across six major coordinates in Tanah Bumbu District. “Search efforts are being carried out more intensively by combining air and land elements,” SAR added. “Aerial searches are focused on hard-to-reach areas, while ground teams comb through hilly terrain and dense forests.”

Head of the Banjarmasin SAR Office, I Putu Sudayana, said that 140 personnel from different agencies and volunteers are involved. Two helicopters from the National Police Headquarters and the National Disaster Management Agency are also helping, Antara News reported.

As of Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, the missing helicopter and its passengers had not been found.

“The full potential of SAR is deployed to the maximum to accelerate the discovery of helicopters and victims. We hope that with the sector’s pattern, the second day of operations can bring progress,” said Kantorsar Banjarmasin, a SAR Head Office member.