Sidoarjo, East Java (ANTARA) - Two Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) pilots who died after their Bonanza G-36 training aircraft crashed in Madura Strait on September 7, 2022, were buried at a naval cemetery in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Friday.

The two pilots were identified as Captain Yudhistira Eka Permadi and First Lieutenant Dendy Kresna Bhakti. They both received posthumous promotions.

Head of the Indonesian Navy Aviation Center Rear Admiral Dwika Thajha Setiawan served as the burial ceremony inspector.

"Our grief accompanied the fallen officers' burial. Grief is a normal reaction to someone's passing. As the creation of the Almighty God, we are fully aware and trustful of His (destinies)," Setiawan stated during the burial ceremony.

The two officers lived with good deeds, and their high dedication to the country and the nation must serve as an example to others, he said.

"Let us pray that the two officers will have their sins forgiven by God and deeds always remembered," the rear admiral added.

He then expressed the nation's condolences for the death of the two naval officers in the crash.

Before the burial, the bodies of the two pilots were laid in state at the Navy Aviation Center complex. Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono also attended the burial ceremony.

They were killed when the training aircraft, bearing the registration number T-2503, that they were piloting and co-piloting crashed into Madura Strait in East Java at 9.30 a.m. local time (UTC +7) on September 7.

The bodies of the two officers were found inside the wreckage of the ill-fated plane in the sea at a depth of 14 meters from the sea surface, Margono informed on September 8.

"They were found at 10 a.m. at a depth of 14 meters," he said.

Meanwhile, head of the Indonesian Navy II Regional Fleet Command Information Office, Lieutenant Colonel Asep Aryansyah, said that the crash occurred during a training session involving naval ships in Madura Strait.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, he added.

Related news: National flag flown half mast at naval offices over personnel deaths
Related news: Search on for black boxes of crashed Susi Air plane






Translator: Indra Setiawan, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022