Three dead in Indonesian military chopper crash

Jakarta: An Indonesian military helicopter crashed into a home in Central Java Friday, an official said, killing three people in the latest air accident for the country's armed forces.

The helicopter crashed into a suburban area just north of Yogyakarta, a major city on the main island of Java.

There were six passengers on board the helicopter when it went down, Indonesia's disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

"Three personnel died," Sutopo said, adding three others suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital.

Footage on social media showed the wreckage of the helicopter smashed through the wall of a house. The building suffered significant damage, though local broadcaster TV One reported no one was inside at the time of the crash.

The disaster agency said the helicopter appeared to be having engine trouble shortly before the accident, but they did not confirm the cause of the crash.

The Indonesian military has been hit with a number of aircraft accidents in recent years, including several crashes in urban areas. In March, 12 people were killed when a military helicopter went down in bad weather in central Indonesia.

The previous month, a military plane crashed into a house in a densely populated area in Java during a test flight, killing the pilot and two people in the building.

In June 2015 a Hercules C-130 crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Medan, the largest city on Sumatra island, killing 142 people and causing widespread destruction.