South African, Australian Citizens Killed In Indonesia Plane Crash

[News_Editor]

South African, Australian citizens killed in Indonesia plane crash 2012-04-27 09:00:14 GMT+7 (ICT) SAMARINDA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- A small Susi Air plane crashed in eastern Indonesia on late Wednesday afternoon, killing a South African pilot and his Australian passenger, officials said on Thursday. There were no survivors.The accident happened at around 5:10 p.m. local time on Wednesday when the Pilatus PC-6 aircraft crashed near Ritan village, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Tabang in Kutai Kartanegara Regency of East Kalimantan province. The wreckage was not located until 1:30 a.m. local time on Thursday.Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said both people on board the aircraft were found dead. The victims were identified as 27-year-old South African pilot Jonathan Willis and 57-year-old Australian passenger Ian Douglas."We can confirm a 57-year-old Australian man has died as a result of a plane crash in Indonesia. Consular officials in Jakarta are providing support to the man's family in Indonesia," a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said, without giving other details.Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Willis was a photographer and the aircraft was flying in the region to carry out aerial photography. He said the aircraft was manufactured in 2009 and was believed to be in a good condition. "There were technical problems in the fuel system and they had to make an emergency landing after flying 5 hours," he said, adding that the aircraft had a flying capacity of 7 hours.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-04-27

[Ulysses G.]

RIP Ian. You were a special man.

[Nienke]

Rest in Peace Blinky Bill.

In remembrance of you: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/550953-blinky-bill/

[dlek]

Just heard the sad news...RIP mate. Gonna miss the wild go-karting escapades, the wilder hi-speed bike rides around Northern Thailand but I'm sure there are so many of your family members who will miss you much, much more.

Bit lost for words but enjoy the high flying and free riding where ever you may be.

[Scott]

As noted in a previous post, there is a thread running here about this accident:

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