Four dead after two Indonesian Air Force planes crash in exercise

Malang, East Java (ANTARA) - Four Indonesian Air Force officers died following the separate crashes of two EMB-314 Super Tucano tactical fighter aircraft in Pasuruan, East Java, during a training exercise on Thursday.

Head of the Indonesian Air Force's Information Service, Air Commodore R. Agung Sasongkojati, confirmed the recovery of the final victim, Lieutenant Colonel Sandhra "Chevron" Gunawan, commander of Air Squadron 21.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sandhra's body was recovered at 7:00 p.m.," Agung said during a press conference at Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java.

He confirmed that the bodies of the three other officers – Colonel Subhan, Colonel Widiono Hadiwijaya, and Major Yuda A. Seta – had been retrieved earlier.

He informed the media that the bodies would undergo examination with the assistance of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Team of the National Police.

"Following the examination, the bodies will be placed in the squadron hangar and buried at the location requested by the respective families," he added.

He clarified that the two aircraft, bearing tail numbers TT-3111 and TT-3103, crashed during a routine training session in two separate locations in the mountainous area around 12:00 p.m.

"The two planes crashed in distinct locations, one to the north and the other slightly to the south. However, both were in the northern part of the mountainous area," he informed.

The fighter planes were being operated by the middle-ranking Air Force officers.

Lieutenant Colonel Gunawan and Colonel Hadiwijaya were on board the TT-3111 aircraft, while Major Seta and Colonel Subhan were piloting the TT-3103 aircraft.