Helicopter Crash on Indonesia's Borneo Island Kills 8

Debris at the site of a helicopter crash in Sekadau regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, April 16, 2026. Picture taken through a window. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)/Handout via REUTERS
Debris at the site of a helicopter crash in Sekadau regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, April 16, 2026. Picture taken through a window. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)/Handout via REUTERS
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Helicopter Crash on Indonesia's Borneo Island Kills 8

Debris at the site of a helicopter crash in Sekadau regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, April 16, 2026. Picture taken through a window. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)/Handout via REUTERS
Debris at the site of a helicopter crash in Sekadau regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, April 16, 2026. Picture taken through a window. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)/Handout via REUTERS

A helicopter flying between palm oil plantations on Borneo Island crashed, killing the eight people on board, Indonesian officials said Friday.

The Airbus H130 owned by PT Matthew Air Nusantara lost contact Thursday, five minutes after it took off from Melawi district in West Kalimantan province.

It was on its way to another palm oil plantation in Kubu Raya district.

Searchers later located the wreckage and recovered the bodies of the two crew members and six passengers in the dense forests in Sekadau district, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency and the Transportation Ministry.

One of those killed was Malaysian, The Associated Press reported.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of about 270 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents, including plane and helicopter crashes and ferry sinkings.