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Crew member missing as Indonesian water-bombing helicopter crashes
Authorities said the two Australian pilots were treated for minor injuries as an 18-member rescue team searched for the missing Indonesian crew member.
- On Sunday, a helicopter crashed into the Barito River while scooping water for firefighting operations, with two Australian crew members rescued and one Indonesian crew member remaining missing.
- Indonesia has struggled for months to contain wildfires driven by El Nino, which have destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares across Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua, causing choking haze that drifted to Malaysia, Singapore, and East Timor.
- This incident marks the second firefighting helicopter crash in days, following a Wednesday military chopper that plunged into waters off Borneo, killing three people during operations in Tanjung Puting National Park.
- Dramatic video footage shows the Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma being dragged downward after filling its bucket, eventually plunging nose-first into the river; the disaster mitigation agency had contracted the aircraft for water-bombing missions.
- Authorities are investigating the cause of Sunday's accident, which occurred during water-bombing maneuvers. Aside from aerial support, Indonesia relies on ground-based firefighters to combat the widespread blazes across the archipelago.
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A second Indonesian helicopter belonging to the country's national disaster management agency has crashed during an air operation in Kalimantan.
·Tehran, Iran (Islamic Republic of)
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Indonesian firefighting helicopter crash in Borneo kills 1
A crew member of a helicopter battling Indonesian wildfires was killed on Sunday when the aircraft crashed into a river as it scooped up water for an airborne drop, a local disaster agency said. The crash in Borneo Island’s South Kalimantan province was the second in days involving a firefighting aircraft, after a military helicopter plunged into the waters off Borneo on Wednesday, killing three people. Two Australian pilots survived Sunday’s cr…
·Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Total News Sources61
Leaning Left9Leaning Right11Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution42% Right
Bias Distribution
- 42% of the sources lean Right
42% Right
L 35%
C 23%
R 42%
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