Gaunt-looking hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens tells his wife and young son ‘It’s me’ in chilling new ‘proof of life’ video released by his bow and arrow-wielding captors a year after he was seized by rebels in remote Papua

By James On Feb 13, 2024

A New Zealand pilot who was taken hostage by rebels in the forests of West Papua has sent a heartbreaking message to his wife and daughter – a year after he was captured.

Philip Mark Mehrtens, a 38-year-old former Jetstar pilot, looks thin and pale in a chilling new hostage video.

With a scraggly beard, the confused pilot says, “It’s me,” with a nervous laugh, before adding a few words of encouragement to his wife Maria and six-year-old son Jacob.

“I’m doing well, they’re treating me well… I’m trying to stay positive and I hope you and Jacob are healthy, doing well and getting support,” he says with a forced smile.

“I love and miss you both very much, and I hope to talk to you soon,” he added.

A video has been released of New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens being held captive for a year by separatist rebels in West Papau

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region earlier released a chilling video in which they appeared to hold weapons to the head of Mr Mehrtens, a captured pilot.

Mr Mehrtens is pictured with his wife Maria and six-year-old son Jacob in a family photo posted on social media

Mr Mehrtens said the video was recorded on December 22, 2023, as the rebels waited for weeks before sharing it.

The pilot further explained that he had met with the ‘komandant’, likely a reference to Egianus Kogoya, a commander of the rebel West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-PB) which is fighting the Indonesian annexation of the area.

Mr Mehrtens said he would also talk to the commander about calling his family.

In a second video also released last week, Mehrtens appears to address the New Zealand government and ask for some supplies to ease his time in captivity.

‘Can you please help me get hold of one or two ventolin inhalers so that I have them on hand in case I develop asthma and if possible can I please get an e-book reader like a Kindle with as much as possible English books.

“That would be greatly appreciated,” he says.

Mr Mehrtens was working for an Indonesian aviation company on February 7 last year when he was kidnapped after landing his single-engine Susi Air plane on a remote airstrip in the mountainous Nduga province, found in Indonesia’s western half of New Guinea.

The West Papua Liberation Army group, the armed wing of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), seized Mr Mehrtens before setting fire to his plane on the airstrip in Paro in the remote Nduga district on February 7 (photo)

Mr Mehrtens was working for an Indonesian aviation company on February 7 last year when he was kidnapped after landing his single-engine Susi Air plane on a remote airstrip in Indonesia’s mountainous Nduga province, located in the western half of New Guinea.

What is the West Papua Liberation Army?

The West Papua Liberation Army is the armed wing of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

Separatist rebels from the group have been fighting Indonesian control in Papua’s easternmost region since the early 1960s.

The group, which has child soldiers in its ranks, uses guerrilla tactics to attack and destroy industrial buildings in a rejection of Indonesia-led development.

The Papuan fighters have never been well armed, but have been fighting Indonesia since the country took control of the mineral-rich area from the Dutch in 1962.

Papuans, who had declared their independence the year before, view Indonesians as invaders who cemented control in the late 1960s with a U.N.-sponsored sham referendum.

A day after he was captured, the group said in a video that he “will die here” like “the rest of us” if the Indonesian military tried to rescue him.

Rebel separatists spokesman Sebby Sambom wrote on Facebook that Mr Mehrtens will be held hostage for negotiations with Indonesia – but warned that if Jakarta refused to negotiate or intervene militarily, the pilot “will be executed”.

Sambom said at the time that the rebels would “never release” Mehrtens unless Jakarta made the Papua region independent from Indonesia.

But the Indonesian government stood firm, saying Papua will remain “forever a legitimate part” of Indonesia.

Two months ago, separatist rebels threatened to execute Mr Mehrtens if their demands were not met, even though he appears to still be alive.

Mr Mehrtens met his wife Maria in Indonesia before the couple moved to New Zealand and settled in Auckland after the pilot started flying for Jetstar.

The couple then returned to Indonesia when he returned to work at Susi Air, founded in 2004, which operates a fleet of 50 aircraft.

Separatist rebels kidnapped him after storming a single-engine Indonesian Susi Airlines plane in February, shortly after it landed on a small airstrip.

Mr Mehrtens was kidnapped shortly after landing in Paro in West Papua’s remote Nguda province

He reportedly evacuated 15 construction workers building a health center in the district after separatist rebels threatened to kill them.

“Our plan to evacuate the workers angered the rebels, who responded by setting the plane on fire and seizing the pilot,” said Nduga district chief Namia Gwijangge, one of the passengers.

“We deeply regret this incident.”

The rebels released all five passengers because they were native Papuans, rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said at the time.