Difficult Terrain, Super Tucano Aircraft Evacuation Could Take One Month

TheIndonesia.id - Indonesian Air Force's Deputy Chief of Staff, Vice Marshal Agustinus Gustaf Brugman, said that the EMB-314 Super Tucano fighter jet that crashed in Mount Bromo National Park, East Java, could take a month to evacuate.

"The location is quite difficult to reach. Overall, the plane's evacuation can be completed in a month," he stated in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.

Brugman drew attention to several challenges encountered by the evacuation team, including difficult terrain, with steep paths far from the main road, as well as aircraft debris that was too large to be lifted.

Conditions at the location where the plane crashed were also foggy, thereby limiting operational visibility of the evacuation team in the field, he pointed out.

He stated that the evacuation team could not immediately remove all debris from the location and had to cut it into smaller pieces in order to be removed from the site.

Brugman said that the evacuation team had found several aircraft debris, video data recorders (VDR), and network center data cartridges (NCDC).

He was also thankful for the help extended by local residents in the airplane's evacuation process.

"We are very grateful for the community's sincere help," he remarked.

The Indonesian Air Force's EMB-314 Super Tucano jet fighter from Air Squadron 21 Abdulrachman Saleh Malang Air Base was manufactured by Embraer Brazil. It is an advanced training aircraft with the capability of Counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft or anti-guerrilla warfare aircraft.

The two EMB-314 Super Tucano tactical fighter aircraft crashed on the slopes of Mount Bromo, Pasuruan District, East Java, on November 16 during a formation training proficiency session with the other two Super Tucano fighter aircraft.

The crash site of the two planes was steep and located in a hilly terrain. The investigation team from the Indonesian Air Force Airworthiness and Flight Safety Center along with the Abdulrachman Saleh Malang Air Base Engineering Squadron managed to arrive at the location on November 17.

The crash of the two planes, bearing registration numbers TT-3111 and TT-3103, killed four personnel: Air Commodore (Posthumous) Subhan, Air Commodore (Posthumous) Widiono Hadiwijaya, Colonel (Posthumous) Sandhra Gunawan, and Lieutenant Colonel (Posthumous) Yuda A. Seta.