Crash of Indonesian water-bombing helicopter kills crew member

A crew member of an Indonesian firefighting helicopter was killed on Sunday when the aircraft crashed into a river while attempting to collect water for an aerial drop, according to a local disaster agency. The incident occurred in South Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. This is the second such crash involving firefighting aircraft in recent days; a military helicopter plunged into the sea off Borneo on Wednesday, resulting in the death of three people.

Both Australian pilots survived Sunday's crash and are reported to be safe, though their condition was not immediately disclosed. Graphic footage showed the firefighting helicopter slowly descending after filling its water bucket in the Barito River before overturning and crashing nose-first into the water.

The Southeast Asian archipelago has been grappling with uncontrollable wildfires in recent months, affecting Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua. The blazes have produced dense smoke that has drifted to neighboring Malaysia, East Timor, and Singapore, causing severe air quality issues. The disaster occurred while the helicopter was engaged in a water-bombing operation, contracted by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

The helicopter involved was a Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma. On Wednesday, another helicopter carrying eight people crashed during a fire-fighting mission in Tanjung Puting National Park, home to critically endangered Bornean orangutans. Like Sunday's crash, this incident also occurred while the aircraft was collecting seawater for water bombing. The cause of the Wednesday crash is currently under investigation.

Indonesia has relied heavily on aerial operations to combat the fires, which have consumed over 1.9 million hectares of land, according to the deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas. The blazes are exacerbated by a strong El Nino weather phenomenon, which typically brings drought conditions to Indonesia.