A few weeks ago, we were asked to help transport two college aged boys that had died that same day after being hit by a car while riding their motorcycle. They were traveling overland from a village far interior to study at a university in PalangkaRaya. Tragically, they never made it to school.
The two bodies were traditionally wrapped in cloth and then wrapped in plastic to keep any body fluids from leaking out during the one hour flight. Bodies are usually buried withing 24 hours here in Indonesia because embalming isn't available. Body fluids are also very corrosive, especially to aircraft aluminum. I was grateful to be able to serve the grieving families this way, but I hated to see such young life snuffed out by a traffic accident. Flying dead bodies never gets normal.
When we arrived at the interior location, many family members were already there in order to take the bodies from the airplane to an awaiting car.
The family members all pitched in to carry the bodies across the puzzle of half floating wood and bridges.
Then, they had to climb a 30 foot set of stairs that finally put them on the river bank. Despite the oddity of this type of flight request, the alternative was a 16+ hour overland trip to return the bodies to their hometowns in an honorable fashion. Even though the families were grieving during this time, I was honored to be able to help them take one thing off of their minds by being able to quickly transport their loved ones bodies back home.
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