A Pilatus aircraft operated by Indonesian carrier PT AMA was burned on the ground at Balinggama airstrip in Yahukimo regency, Highland Papua, on 2 July, and its American pilot, Nicholas F. Goselin, was reported dead. Indonesian transport officials confirmed the plane, carrying seven Papuan passengers, had landed safely at 06:46 local time before communications from the airstrip were lost. The separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claimed responsibility the same day, stating its fighters shot the pilot and set the aircraft on fire because it had violated a ban on civilian flights into areas the group considers operational zones.

According to Indonesian police, the joint security task force suspects an armed criminal group—the term Jakarta uses for separatist fighters—was behind the attack, noting that civilians would be unlikely to destroy the only air link serving the remote Balinggama community. Police said the aircraft was routinely used for humanitarian and religious missions, and that the seven passengers were local residents. The TPNPB, through spokesman Sebby Sambom, described the killing as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments for failing to address the root causes of the 64-year conflict, and alleged the plane had been used to transport Indonesian military personnel and logistics into the interior. The US Embassy in Jakarta has not commented.

The incident is the latest in a pattern of attacks on civilian aircraft in Papua. In February 2023, rebels abducted a New Zealand pilot working for Susi Air; he was released in September 2024. In August 2024, gunmen stormed a helicopter and killed another New Zealand pilot. Viewed from Jakarta, the destruction of a vital transport link in a region with no road access underscores the difficulty of maintaining security while ensuring isolated communities receive supplies. The TPNPB’s warning that it will target other aircraft it believes are assisting military operations signals a hardening posture, and its call for UN-facilitated negotiations places the conflict back on an international agenda that has largely overlooked Papua.

Indonesian authorities said a team of about three platoons would be deployed to the site on 3 July, weather permitting, to conduct a crime-scene investigation and recover the pilot’s body. The police have not yet confirmed the cause of death or the identity of the attackers, and the fate of the seven passengers remains unverified. The transport ministry stated it is coordinating with the airline, security forces, and local government to establish the facts, while the TPNPB claimed its fighters had withdrawn from the area and urged security forces not to target civilians.