September 1, 2025 | 08:50 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A helicopter carrying eight people has reportedly lost contact in the vicinity of the Mandin Damar waterfall in Gunung Raya Village, Mantewe Sub-district, Tanah Bumbu Regency, South Kalimantan, on Monday, September 1, 2025.
The head of Gunung Raya Village, Satra, stated that the helicopter crash was suspected to have occurred near the Mandin Damar waterfall tourist area. Satra received information about the helicopter losing contact at 14:00 Central Indonesian Time (WITA).
"It is estimated to have crashed in the wilderness, the customary forest of the local community. Earlier, 12 indigenous people entered the forest to accompany the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) teams to the scene," Satra told Tempo on Monday, September 1, 2025.
Since the search began at 15:00 WITA, according to Satra, the search team and indigenous people have not yet returned to the nearest village. He could not confirm the number of injured or deceased victims from the incident.
Rina Susanti, a community support staff member from Gunung Raya Village, added that a joint team comprising Basarnas, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and local community members had headed to the helicopter's crash site at 15:00 WITA. "As far as I know, it's around the Mandin Damar waterfall, but the search is still ongoing," said Rina Susanti.
According to a press release from Basarnas Banjarmasin, one BK117-D3 helicopter with the registration code PK-RGH, operated by Eastindo, was reported to have lost contact while flying from Gusti Syamsir Alam Airport in Kotabaru Regency to Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan, on Monday, September 1, 2025.
The helicopter took off at 07:46 Western Indonesian Time (WIB) and was scheduled to arrive in Palangka Raya at 09:15 WIB. However, the last contact with the control tower was recorded at 07:54 WIB, approximately 10 minutes after takeoff, at a position 10 nautical miles from Kotabaru and an altitude of 3,000 feet.
The initial report from AirNav Banjarmasin indicates that the point where contact was lost is near the Mandin Damar waterfall, Mantewe Sub-district, Tanah Bumbu Regency, South Kalimantan, at coordinates 306'54.58" S - 11541'21.62" E.
"The dense vegetation and communication limitations are the main obstacles to the search. However, the entire team has been deployed to the field since 12:20 WITA," said the Head of Basarnas Banjarmasin, I Putu Sudaya, in a written statement.
All eight passengers and crew are currently classified as missing. Their identities are listed as: Capt Haryanto, Eng Hendra, Mark Werren, Yudi Febrian, Andys Rissa Pasulu, Santha Kumar, Claudine Quito, and Iboy Irfan Rosa.
The joint search and rescue team includes members from Basarnas Banjarmasin, the Kotabaru SAR Office, Tanah Bumbu Mobile Brigade (Brimob), the local community, and other relevant agencies.
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