Two Australian pilots survived a helicopter crash in a remote section of Indonesia on Sunday, while search teams continue to look for a third crew member.
The Super Puma H225 aircraft went down in the Barito River in South Kalimantan province while conducting water-bombing operations to combat ongoing forest fires, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
Video footage from the site shows the helicopter losing altitude and nosediving into the river as it attempted to collect water, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. The two Australian pilots, identified by the BNPB as Hugh Andrew John Page and Michael John Betterridge, were recovered in good health and are currently receiving medical attention.
Berton Panjaitan, a spokesman for the BNPB, remarked, "We have also ensured that the two crew members who have been found receive medical examinations and any necessary medical care." He added that the families of the pilots had been contacted.
The third crew member, an Indonesian national identified as Yayan Supyansuri, remains missing. Supyansuri was serving as the helicopter landing officer at the time of the incident.
An 18-member rescue team from the South Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has been deployed to the site to conduct a search for the missing crew member. Authorities have moved the wreckage of the helicopter to the riverbank to facilitate an investigation, though officials have declined to speculate on the cause of the crash.
Panjaitan noted, "This incident is a matter of serious concern for the BNPB, particularly regarding air operations for forest and land fire management." He promised a comprehensive safety review of the agency’s current aviation operations.
The crash occurred during an intense wildfire season in Indonesia, which has seen 1.9 million hectares of land burned between January and September of this year. This figure represents a 38 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019, which previously held the record for the worst fire season on record, according to satellite data analyzed by Nusantara Atlas.
The current fires, primarily concentrated on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, have been intensified by a severe El Niño weather pattern and persistent drought conditions. Australia has deployed firefighting personnel to the region to assist local authorities in containing the blazes, which have triggered a health crisis in neighboring countries due to heavy smoke and toxic haze.
The BNPB has stated that its immediate priority remains the search for the missing crew member and the continued medical care of the surviving pilots.
