A helicopter crash in the dense jungles of Borneo has claimed the lives of all eight people on board, just minutes after takeoff. The aircraft, an Airbus H130 operated by PT Matthew Air Nusantara, disappeared from radar approximately five minutes into its flight over West Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Thursday.
Rescue teams discovered the wreckage scattered across remote forested terrain. Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency and Transport Ministry confirmed that all eight occupants—two crew members and six passengers, all male—were recovered deceased from the crash site. Among the victims was one Malaysian national, according to civil aviation director general Lukman F. Laisa.
The helicopter had departed from the Melawi district in West Kalimantan on what was intended to be a routine flight. The bodies were transported to the provincial capital of Pontianak for identification and further procedures.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has faced ongoing scrutiny over transport safety. This incident follows a January crash in which a turboprop aircraft killed 11 people while approaching a remote area of Sulawesi. In that accident, wreckage including the engine and passenger seats was found near Mount Bulusaraung.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the latest crash. Investigations are ongoing.
