An American pilot died when her plane malfunctioned while she was on her way to deliver COVID-19 rapid test kits to a remote Indonesian village, officials said.
Joyce Lin, 40, had just taken off in the morning on May 12, leaving the airport in Sentani, in Papua province, in a Kodiak aircraft. She was a missionary with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), serving as a pilot and an information technology specialist.
Tuesday, Lin was attempting to fly to Mamit in the Papua highlands, in an effort to bring test kits to the local clinic. Within minutes of takeoff, she reported an emergency.
Lin had worked in Indonesia for two years, and joined the MAF after more than a decade of work as a computer specialist. She was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she received both her bachelor and master degrees, before enrolling at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and graduating in 2017.
It was at seminary that Lin discovered mission aviation, and she never looked back.
"Joyce was a light reflecting Jesus, and she will be deeply missed," the MAF wrote in a statement.
Lin is survived by her parents and two sisters, who have requested privacy were not available for comment.
The country has seen its CCP virus numbers rapidly multiply, despite not reporting any COVID-19 cases until March.
President Joko Widodo didn't declare a national public health emergency until March 31, the same day it forbade most foreign visitors from entering or transiting through the country.