Pilot and copilot killed after charter plane shot at while landing in Indonesia

Gunmen opened fire on a small passenger aircraft shortly after it landed in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, killing the pilot and copilot, authorities said. All 13 passengers on board survived.

The incident happened Wednesday after a Smart Air Cessna Caravan completed a flight from Tanah Merah to Korowai Batu Airport in Boven Digoel Regency, South Papua, police said.

Papua Regional Police spokesperson Commissioner Cahyo Sukarnito said the aircraft came under fire from a wooded area near the airstrip moments after touchdown.

Shortly after the shooting began, an emergency alert was transmitted from the cockpit through a Garmin GPS device to flight operations, reporting that the plane had been shot at and that the crew ran from the aircraft toward nearby forested terrain.

Authorities later confirmed that the pilot, Captain Egon Erawan, and copilot, Captain Bas Koro, were killed. The aircraft was carrying 12 adults and one infant, all of whom were unharmed.

The aircraft was a Cessna Caravan used for charter service on routes connecting isolated communities in Papua, a mountainous and forested province where small aircraft are a primary mode of transportation.

South Papua is part of Indonesia’s easternmost region, where sporadic armed violence has occurred in recent years involving separatist groups.