The Air Force has confirmed that 38-year-old pilot Lt. Col. Luluk, who was promoted from the rank of major posthumously, has died from injuries sustained during a training accident at the Iswahjudi Air Force Base in Madiun, East Java, on Monday.
“Lt. Col. Luluk passed away after being treated at the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital [in Central Jakarta],” the Air Force information center said in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to his eulogy, Luluk was born in Madiun on April 23, 1982, and graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2003. He is survived by his wife and two children.
The Air Force further confirmed that First. Lt. Muhammad Zaky, a student who had trained with Luluk, had survived the accident.
The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. on Monday during a routine training exercise, when the T-50i Golden Eagle fighter jet skid off the runway during takeoff.
Zaky was seated in the front of the cockpit while Luluk was in the back. Both managed to get out of the aircraft after the crash and were rushed to a hospital.
