July 19 2022 – The T-50i Golden Eagle TT-5009 pilot is reported dead in Desa Nginggil, Kradenan Blora on Monday night (18/7).
The Head of the Indonesian Air Force Information Service (Kadispenau) Marsma TNI Indan Gilang Buldansyah said that the jet was piloted by First Lieutenant Pnb Allan Safitra Indra Wahyudi. He is a pilot officer who graduated from the AAU in 2015 and the Air Force Aviation School in 2017.
“[He] died while carrying out night flight training duties on Monday (18/7). His departure left a wife whom he married in 2021,” said Indan in a written statement on Tuesday (19/7).
The jet took off for a night flight training from the Iswahjudi Magetan Air Base at 6:24 PM WIB. The pilot is still making contact with the base at 7:25 PM WIB but after that, they lost contact with the plane.
Wreckage of the plane was reported by regional officials from Desa Nginggil, Kradenan, Blora, Central Java. According to Indan, an excavation team has been sent from Iswahjudi last night and is still in the process of evacuating up until this morning. He added that the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) has formed a team to investigate the cause of the plane crash. This team is the Tim Panitia Penyelidikan Kecelakaan Pesawat Udara (PPKPU) or the Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee Team.
“The Indonesian Air Force expresses its gratitude for the participation of regional officers and the community in the evacuation and on-site safety. [We] hope that the public will report to the officers in the location if any parts of the aircraft are found,” said Indan.
Eye Witness to The Crash
A person from Kradenan claimed to have seen the T-50i Golden Eagle as it crashed in Desa Nginggil, Kradenan, Blora.
“At first, we saw two planes in the air and one of them have a thick smoke on it. Until I saw one of the planes fly away and another one falls,” said Laji (36), a resident in Kradenan, Blora on Monday (18/7) night.
After witnessing the plane crash, residents got curious as they saw a fire gradually getting bigger in the middle of the forest. According to Laji, the incident happened around 6:30 PM WIB, and residents immediately flocked to the scene.
“After the fire burning the forest died out, residents are able to see parts of iron that were suspected from the flying jet earlier,” said Laji.
