Kiwi pilot recovering after Indonesia plane crash

A deaf person walking across a runway was believed to have caused a New Zealand pilot to pull up on approach and crashed the plane into an Indonesian mountain, killing the co-pilot.

The New Zealander, Jesse Becker is said to be recovering well after crashing in the remote mountains of Papua.

His employer, Susi Air, said Mr Becker had suffered a dislocated shoulder and bruises to his body.

There have previously been conflicting reports that Mr Becker may have suffered third-degree burns.

Susi Air spokesman Andro Yogi told the Herald that Mr Becker did not have major injuries.

"The doctor that observed him yesterday said that maybe today he would already be walking again," Mr Yogi said.

"From that point of view, we can say that his condition isn't so bad."

But Mr Becker could be flown out to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, or to New Zealand or Australia if further medical attention was necessary.

Early witness accounts suggest the plane crashed when Mr Becker tried to avoid hitting a local resident walking across the landing strip in the remote mountain town Sugapa, in the Intan Jaya district.

He pulled up from an approach to land and crashed into the surrounding mountains.

Some media reports suggest the resident walking across the runway was a deaf man, though others say it was a girl.

Mr Becker's co-pilot, Spaniard Albert Citores, died in the crash.

Sugapa is at an altitude of about 2000m and can only be accessed by plane or on foot. Its airstrip has no fencing or control tower and locals frequently walk across it.

The Susi Air flight was delivering supplies to the area.

Mr Yogi said Mr Becker had been flown from the crash scene to a hospital owned by an American mining company, Freeport, in the town of Timika.

Mr Becker has worked for Susi Air for about two years and became the airline's Papua-based pilot in January, moving to its mountainous areas in July.

Mr Yogi said the company's pilots only moved to Papua after first working in less dangerous regions.

"It's very mountainous and the weather is very, very quick to change in Papua," he said.

"In our company policy a pilot has to fly in other regions before Papua."

Mr Becker graduated from Massey University's School of Aviation in 2009, after publishing a junior research paper on Aviation Psychology.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said Mr Becker's family had asked that updates on his condition be withheld.

The Ministry had offered consular assistance to the family through its embassy in Jakarta, the spokesman said.