- Kiwi pilot killed by separatist rebels in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua named 

- Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, was a respected South Island helicopter pilot 

- MFAT says they are aware of the reports 

A New Zealand helicopter pilot reportedly killed in Central Papua yesterday has been named as an experienced airman well-known in South Island aviation circles. 

Glen Malcolm Conning, a 50-year-old from Motueka, was killed by separatist rebels in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua after landing in an isolated area, local police said. 

Conning, an experienced South Island helicopter pilot who helped fight in recent Christchurch, Port Hills fires, was flying for Indonesian aviation company Intan Angkasa Air Service. 

His passengers - reportedly including two health workers, a baby, and a child – were unharmed, Brigadier General Faizal Ramadhani, head of the Cartenz Peace Operation, said. 

Local police named Glen Malcolm Conning as the pilot who has been killed. 

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (Mfat) said it is aware of the reports coming out of Papua. 

“Our Embassy in Jakarta is seeking further information from authorities, and we have no further comment at this stage.” 

A close friend of Conning, Kerry Gatenby today paid tribute to the keen hunter and fisherman.

“[Glen] was greatly loved by the Motueka community and was a great family man,” Gatenby said.

“We had a saying between us when we would see each other we would yell, ‘Shag!’

“He was a special person.”

The area is extremely isolated and only easily reached by air.

Head of public relations for the Cartenz Peace Operation, Grand Commissioner Bayu Suseno, said that a witness said the armed group intercepted the pilot and passengers using firearms.

“The armed group immediately killed Glen Malcolm Conning,” he said in a written statement, reported by Tempo.co.

“All passengers are safe because they are Alama locals.”

Bayu said the National Police, the military, and the Mimika Police are still pursuing the armed group responsible for Conning’s death.

It comes nearly 18 months after the abduction by rebels of another pilot from New Zealand, Phillip Mehrtens, who remains in captivity.

Images released by the West Papua National Liberation Army of Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) earlier this year showed New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who has been held hostage by the group since February 7. 2023. 

Police said the group responsible for Monday’s incident in Alama district in the Central Papua province was the same group that is holding Mehrtens.

The rebel West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said it had not received a report of the incident cited by police and could not immediately confirm the killing of the pilot on Monday.

A low-level battle for independence from Indonesia has raged in the resource-rich western half of Papua, where attacks by independence fighters have grown deadlier and more frequent as they have procured better weaponry.

A spokesperson for the TPNPB on Saturday said it had agreed to free Mehrtens, who was kidnapped on February 7, 2023, after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, mountainous area of Nduga.

The New Zealand Government has repeatedly called for him to be freed immediately and the group has released videos of him multiple times seeking mediation in talks, one with him surrounded by Papuan fighters.

-Additional reporting, Reuters