Pilot of AMA PK-RCY Pioneer Plane Killed in Papua, on Humanitarian Mission

JAKARTA - The plane that caught fire at Balinggama Airport, Papua Mountains, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, was a missionary plane carrying a humanitarian mission. The Cartenz Peace Operations Task Force said the plane had been serving the needs of the people in the interior, which could only be accessed by air.

Head of Public Relations and Peace Operations, Kombes Pol Yusuf Sutejo, said the burning of the plane was a concern because the plane was the only means of transportation carrying humanitarian missions and religious services.

"The community itself can judge how it would be if the only means of transportation at the location carried a humanitarian mission, a religious mission, a missionary mission until it was burned," said Yusuf, Thursday, July 2, 2026.

Yusuf explained that the pioneering aircraft owned by PT AMA with registration PK-RCY serves the Wamena-Balinggama-Wamena route. The Pilatus type aircraft carries seven passengers and is flown by a pilot of American nationality.

"The type of Pilatus aircraft, the passengers are seven people from the passenger manifest we received from the airline. One was piloted by an American citizen. The route is Wamena-Balinggama, Balinggama back to Wamena," he said.

Initial information about the incident was obtained from aerial footage taken by pilots of other airlines that passed around the location. In the video, the plane is seen burning at the end of the runway.

However, Yusuf said his party could not confirm the condition of all passengers because access to the location was very limited and there were no adequate communication facilities.

"It is not yet certain because we ourselves have not been able to contact people or the community at the location due to the distance, there is no means of communication that can penetrate there," he said.

He emphasized that Balinggama is an area with difficult terrain and can only be reached using a pioneering aircraft.

For information, the PK-RCY plane departed from Wamena Airport on Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 06.30 WIT and landed at Balinggama Airport around 06.46 WIT. After landing, communication from the field post was cut off.

The pilot of the plane, Nicholas F. Goselin, was reported dead. Meanwhile, the exact cause of the incident is still being investigated by the authorities.