15 October 2015•Update: 21 October 2015
By Ainur Romah
JAKARTA
An Indonesian man says he managed to survive a helicopter crash in North Sumatra province by floating on the waters of southeast Asia's largest lake clutching a patch of hyacinth.
"With the weight of my clothes pulled me under, I stripped to my underwear and lay in the hyacinth until [I was] found," the 22-year-old told local Metro TV.
Fransiskus Subihardayan stayed that way -- around two miles from land -- for just over 48-hours, during which time he said he saw his uncle slip beneath the surface, and a fellow passenger disappear.
We saw the beam of a lamp in the dark and screamed for help, he said.
"[Come the] morning, I did not see him [Sugianto] again."
The helicopter -- carrying a pilot, an engineer and three passengers -- lost contact with air traffic control Sunday while crossing Sumatra.
It took off from Samosir in the region's north at 11.33 a.m. (0433GMT) and should have arrived at Kualanamu International Airport on the island's northeast coast just over an hour later.
It last made contact around 11.50 a.m.
After a few hours in hospital, Subihardayan told Metro that due to bad weather the pilot decided to detour to a nearby airport but with visibility hampered by cloud, he tried what proved to be a disastrous maneuver.
The pilot tried to disperse the cloudbank by wiggling the helicopter's tail from left to right.
"The maneuver went too far, so that the helicopter lost control and crashed," he said.
With the helicopter fast sinking into the waters of Toba Lake - 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide - the pilot ordered everyone out.
"Because I was looking for a life-vest, I did not immediately get out, but with more and more water entering the helicopter I ended up leaving it behind," he said.
Lost in thick fog, the five screamed for help for nearly 20 minutes, but with none forthcoming they started to swim toward what they thought was a boat.
The boat turned out to be the floating patch of water hyacinth.
"When we arrived, we were only three people: I, my uncle, and Sugianto. I do not know where the other two went," said Subihardayan.
"After a few hours [holding onto the hyacinth], my uncle, Hariyanto, just disappeared, leaving just me and Sugianto.
On Tuesday afternoon, rescuer Joko Santoso said his search team saw "something" going up and down in the water.
On approaching, he said they realized it was a man.
"He shouted for help while raising his hands, and said that he was a passenger on the helicopter," Santoso said.
The team threw him a float, but he could not reach it as he was suffering dehydration and his fingers were swollen after too long in the water.
He was hauled in and rushed to a clinic where he remains in a stable condition.
Search teams - including navy, police and army personnel as well as local residents - are continuing to search for the other four men.
