New Zealand pilot killed in Central Papua flown to Jakarta

Central Papua, Aug 7 (ANTARA) - The coffin of New Zealand pilot Glen Malcolm Conning, killed in an armed criminal group ambush in Central Papua on Monday (August 5), was flown on Wednesday to Jakarta for repatriation to his home country.

Chief of the joint military-police Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force 2024, Brigadier General Faizal Ramadhani, stated that the late pilot's forensic report had been completed at the Mimika Regional General Hospital before his repatriation.

"The Task Force is committed to supporting the repatriation process for the late Glen Malcolm Conning to New Zealand through Jakarta," Ramadhani said in his written statement on Wednesday.

The task force chief emphasized that the repatriation process would be his unit's current priority and expressed hope that it would run smoothly so that the late pilot's family in New Zealand could convey their last respects sooner.

Meanwhile, the Cartenz Task Force's Public Relations department chief, Senior Commissioner Bayu Suseno, confirmed that Conning's employer, Intan Angkasa Air Service, assisted with the transportation process to Jakarta.

"At 11:10 a.m. local time, the coffin of the late pilot Glen Malcolm Conning departed Timika's Mozes Kilangin Airport for Jayapura's Sentani Airport before being flown to Jakarta," Suseno noted.

The pilot, who works for aviation company Intan Angkasa Air Service, was intercepted and shot when he landed the MD 500 helicopter in Alana Sub-district, Mimika District, Central Papua, on Monday at 10 a.m. local time (UTC +9).

After killing Conning, the criminal group set on fire his lifeless body along with the helicopter. The task force confirmed that the four passengers who boarded the helicopter during the incident had survived.

Conning's death is the latest incident in a history of attacks by separatists on civilian aircraft and their crew members in Papua.

In February 2023, a Susi Air plane was burned by the armed criminal group in Nduga District, Highland Papua. The pilot, Captain Philip Mark Mehrtens, also a New Zealand national, was taken hostage. Despite ongoing efforts, his whereabouts remain unknown.