Indonesian army chopper pilot saved, 3 crew dead

November 29, 2016 | 09:59

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JAKARTA: The pilot of an Indonesian army helicopter has been rescued alive three days after the aircraft crashed on Borneo island, an official said Monday (Nov 28), but three other crew members were found dead.

File photo of Indonesian military officers with a navy Bell helicopter. (Photo: AFP/Adek Berry)

The injured airman was discovered along with the wreckage of the Bell 412 helicopter Sunday, after the aircraft went down on Thursday as it was transporting supplies to a remote army post near the Malaysian border.

"The pilot had to be lifted with a rope because the crash location was difficult to reach," army spokesman Sabrar Fadhilah told AFP, adding he had been taken to hospital for treatment.

Search teams on Monday found the bodies of three other male crew members following the discovery of the wreckage in mountainous terrain in North Kalimantan province, Fadhilah said.

Rescuers are still searching for a fifth man who remains missing in the remote area.

It is just the latest crash for Indonesia's accident-prone military.

Twelve people were killed in March when a military helicopter went down in bad weather on Sulawesi in central Indonesia.

It is also not the first time that an Indonesian has been rescued days after an air accident. In October last year, a man was found alive, naked and floating in a huge volcanic lake on Sumatra island two days after the helicopter in which he was travelling crashed.

AFP

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