INDOPOSCO.ID – The evacuation of one victim from the ATR 42-500 aircraft that crashed on Mount Bulusaraung in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, on Saturday (Jan. 17, 2026), was carried out using a rappelling technique from the top of a cliff.
“The victim was located in a hard-to-reach area, so the Basarnas vertical rescue team employed a special evacuation method, namely the rappelling technique,” said Commander of the XIV/Hasanuddin Military Regional Command, Maj. Gen. Bangun Nawoko, in Makassar on Sunday.
He explained that the method was chosen due to the extremely challenging terrain, with the victim positioned on a cliff with a slope nearing 90 degrees.
Rappelling is a controlled descent method from heights—such as cliffs, ravines, or vertical structures—using specialized ropes and a descender device (such as a figure-eight or autoblock) connected to a harness or other personal protective equipment.
The ATR 42-500 aircraft operated by Indonesia Air Transport (AT), carrying seven crew members and three passengers, crashed in the Bulusaraung mountain range in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, at around 1:00 p.m. WITA on Saturday (Jan. 17).
Nawoko added that one victim was evacuated via Balocci, Pangkep Regency, as the route provided closer access to land and allowed an ambulance to reach the site more easily than routes through Maros Regency.
Search operations for the aircraft wreckage and its occupants are being conducted by a joint SAR team comprising Basarnas, the Indonesian Air Force, AirNav Indonesia, and other related agencies, as reported by Antara.
Earlier, the Ministry of Forestry stated that weather conditions at the time the aircraft lost contact were slightly cloudy, with visibility of about 8 kilometers, according to data from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). (aro)
