Eight killed in helicopter crash in Indonesia’s Borneo island

JAKARTA: At least eight people, including two crew members and six passengers, were killed when a private helicopter crashed in a forested area of Borneo, Indonesian authorities said on Friday.

The Airbus helicopter, operated by local firm Matthew Air Nusantara, lost contact with air traffic control about five minutes after takeoff in West Kalimantan on Thursday morning.

“All passengers and crew members have been confirmed dead,” civil aviation director general Lukman F Laisa said in a statement.

All eight individuals on board were men, including one Malaysian national, officials confirmed.

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Search and rescue teams located the crash site later the same day in a dense forest with steep terrain, according to I Made Junetra. The bodies were subsequently transported to the provincial capital, Pontianak.

Indonesia, an archipelago nation, relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands, but has faced recurring aviation safety challenges.

Earlier this year, a turboprop aircraft chartered by the fisheries ministry crashed on Sulawesi, killing all 10 people on board. In September last year, another helicopter crash in South Kalimantan claimed eight lives, while a separate crash in Papua killed four people weeks later.

Authorities are expected to investigate the latest incident to determine the cause of the crash.