Indonesian authorities suspend charter flights after mission aviation pilot killed in Indonesia

Indonesian authorities shut down all charter flights across West Papua, Indonesia, after separatist fighters in the region recently killed an American pilot, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported this week. Nicholas Gosselin, 29, of Sandy Hook, Conn., was an experienced bush pilot who worked for a Christian aviation group, PT AMA. Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army shot Gosselin and destroyed his plane on July 2 after he landed in the remote area of Yahukimo, according to the Associated Press. The separatist group, which has a history of abducting or killing foreign pilots, released Gosselin’s seven Papuan passengers unharmed.

Is Papua, Indonesia, the same as Papua New Guinea? No, but both are located on the world’s second-largest island, New Guinea. Papua, Indonesia, is an Indonesian province on the western half of the island. More than 250 tribal languages are spoken by the indigenous peoples of Papua, Indonesia, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. The West Papua National Liberation Army is made up of Papuans who have been in conflict with the Indonesian military for decades, though violence between the two forces has recently intensified, according to the Associated Press.