File picure of an Indonesian Air Force EMB-314 Super Tucano parked at the Southern Terminal of the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta. - Antara This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Two Air Force planes crash in Bromo national parkTenggerese Hindu ritual meets cultural performances on Mount Bromo ". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/07/21/tenggerese-hindu-ritual-meets-cultural-performances-on-mount-bromo.html. Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access: Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios
JAKARTA: Two EMB-314 Super Tucano counterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft from the Air Force’s 21st Squadron crashed in two separate locations inside the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java on Thursday (Nov 16).
The two Brazilian-made fighter aircraft, tail numbers TT-3111 and TT-3103, were earlier reported to have lost radio contact. They were based at the Abdulrahman Saleh Air Force Base (AFB) in Malang, East Java, just west of Mount Bromo.
Eyewitnesses reported that one of the two planes crashed in the Watugedek Perhutani area in Keduwung village, Puspo district, Pasuruan regency. According to initial reports from the public, the airplane that crashed in this location had the tail number TT-3013.
Meanwhile, the other plane was reported to have gone down in the Mount Kundi area in neighbouring Probolinggo regency. The two locations are about 10km apart.
Abdulrahman Saleh AFB chief spokesman Maj Muchidin told a hastily organised press conference that senior Air Force officers were on the way to Malang.
Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo confirmed the accident when contacted by Antara news agency. “Yes, there have been two,” he said briefly.
Dani, a resident of Lumbang, said he believed the first plane crashed in a forested area. "It’s in Lumbang district, near Keduwung village but not actually in Keduwung," he said on Thursday.
Residents around the area, which has many steep hills, said they saw a plane crashing into a cliff face. They recorded the incident on their smartphones, and video recordings began circling on social media after the accident, which took place at about 12:15pm.
Meanwhile, the second location, he added, was thought to be in Probolinggo regency.
"The location is in Probolinggo, in the Mt Kundi area," he said.
Search and rescue personnel were at the scenes. According to reports, Lt Col Sandhra Gunawan flew in the front seat and Col Widiono in the rear seat of TT-3111, and Maj. Yuda A. Seta was in the front seat and Col Subhan in the rear of TT-3103.
At the time of the accident, Subhan was serving in the 2nd Air Wing, which oversees the 4th light transport, 21st tactical fighter and 32nd heavy transport squadrons at Abdulrachman Saleh AFB. Subhan served as the 21st Squadron commander while Widiono was head of the personnel bureau at the base.
Later in the afternoon, Air Force chief spokesman Air Cdre. Agung Sasongkojati said that search and rescue personnel had found the bodies of all the personnel. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
