New York, May 11, 2012–Five journalists were killed in Indonesia on Wednesday when a jetliner slammed into Mount Salak, a volcano south of Jakarta, during a demonstration flight, according to news reports.
The English-language daily Jakarta Post reported that the journalists were identified as Femi Adi, a reporter for Bloomberg Market; Dody Aviantara, a journalist for the monthly Angkasa magazine; Didik Nur Yusuf, who also worked for Angkasa magazine; Ismiyati Sunarto, a reporter for the national station Trans TV; and Aditya Sukardi, who worked for Trans TV.
There were conflicting reports on the number of people on the flight, but authorities are presuming all of the passengers are dead, according to news reports.
Indonesia’s Institute of Aeronautics and Space said on Friday that the plane, a Sukhoi Superjet 100, had encountered bad weather on the demo flight. Demo flights are generally used to show the aircraft to potential customers.
“We mourn the death of these journalists and send our deepest condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.