Air Force forms T-50i Golden Eagle crash in Blora investigation team

Magetan, East Java (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) has set up an aircraft accident investigation committee to probe the recent T-50i Golden Eagle military aircraft crash in Blora, East Java, on Monday (July 18).

TNI AU's Information Office Head Air Commodore Indan Gilang Buldansyah, in a press statement received here Tuesday, reported that the investigation and aircraft evacuation processes were all ongoing.

"The air force team from (Magetan's) Iswahjudi Airfield had been flown to the accident site last night. Until this morning, evacuation and security processes conducted by our team are ongoing," he remarked.

TNI AU also confirmed that First Lieutenant Allan Safitra Indra Wahyudi, who piloted the aircraft for a training mission, had died in the crash.

Wahyudi, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2015 and Air Force Aviation School in 2017, is survived by his wife whom he married in 2021, the air commodore noted.

"This accident is leaving deep scars (for all of us), not only for the family but also for the Air Force, for the TNI, and the Indonesian people," Buldansyah remarked.

The Air Force expressed gratitude to the local officers and residents, who are assisting the evacuation process at the crash site, he remarked while appealing to residents to report immediately to officers if they found other debris belonging to the crashed aircraft.

The T-50i Golden Eagle aircraft, piloted by Wahyudi, earlier lost contact during a night flight training mission on Monday evening. The TT-5009-tail numbered aircraft relayed its last radio contact at 7:07 p.m. local time (UTC +7).

The aircraft's fate was sealed after debris found by local security officers in Nginggil Village, Kradenan Sub-district, Blora, Central Java, was confirmed to be that of the lost T-50i Golden Eagle aircraft. (*)