What happened
On 26 January 2008, a Casa 212-200 aircraft, operating under the registration PK-VSE, was performing a cargo charter mission from Tarakan Airport to Long Apung Airport. The flight was managed by PT. Dirgantara Air Service and carried a total of 3 persons on board, consisting of two pilots and one load master who also served as an aircraft maintenance engineer.
The aircraft departed from Tarakan at 0011 UTC, with an expected arrival time at the destination of 0136. Following the departure, a distress signal was reported to air traffic services at Tarakan by the pilot of a different aircraft at 0411. Subsequent search operations located the wreckage at an altitude of 2,766 feet, situated approximately 3.4 NM from Long Apung Airport.
The wreckage was discovered near Lidung Payau Village in the Malinau region of East Kalimantan, specifically at coordinates 01° 39.483′ S and 115° 00.265′ E. The crash occurred while the aircraft was positioned on the left downwind leg of the runway 35 circuit.
Findings
Prior to the flight, the aircraft was documented as being in an airworthy condition.