The helicopter tried once. Fog turned it back.
The next morning, the sky cleared. And a Malaysian tourist with a spinal injury finally left the mountain.
Chye Connsynn, a female tourist from Malaysia, was evacuated by helicopter to Bali on Tuesday morning, May 26, 2026, after falling while descending from the summit of Mount Rinjani in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). She is now receiving treatment at Inmedika Hospital in Sanur, Bali.
She fell on Monday afternoon, around 3:39 PM. She was unable to move her body. Porters and guides carried her to Pelawangan 2 Sembalun, a rest area along the trekking route, where she waited for rescue.
“She suffered serious injuries and could not move her body,” said Muhamad Hariyadi, head of the Mataram SAR Office.
The Fog
A helicopter from PT SGi Air Bali was dispatched from the island of Bali on Monday afternoon. But when it arrived at Pelawangan 2 Sembalun, thick fog had settled over the area.
The pilot tried to find an opening. The visibility was too low.
“The helicopter tried to maneuver to find a gap, but the very limited visibility forced the helicopter to return to its base in Bali for flight safety reasons,” Hariyadi said.
The evacuation was postponed.
Medical staff from the Nusa Medica clinic recommended that Connsynn not be moved in the meantime. Her condition needed to stabilize. She remained under intensive supervision from nurses and a joint SAR team at Pelawangan 2 Sembalun throughout Monday night.
She was conscious. She could still communicate. But her spine was injured, and every hour of delay carried risk.
The Rescue
On Tuesday morning at 8:05 AM, the helicopter took off again from the Sembalun landing zone. It reached Pelawangan 2 Sembalun, picked up the injured tourist, and lifted off again at 8:17 AM.
At 9:05 AM, the helicopter landed at the helipad in Benoa, Bali. An ambulance was waiting. Connsynn was transferred to Inmedika Hospital in Sanur for further treatment.
She is alive. She is receiving care. And she is no longer trapped on a mountain where the weather decides when people leave.
What This Means for Travelers
Mount Rinjani is one of Indonesia’s most challenging and popular trekking destinations. At 3,726 meters, it attracts thousands of international climbers each year. But the mountain’s weather is notoriously unpredictable. Afternoon storms roll in quickly. Fog can descend within minutes. For helicopters attempting rescue, these conditions are not inconvenient — they are dangerous.
Connsynn waited overnight. She was stable. She was monitored. But she was also stranded on a mountain with a spinal injury, unable to move, while fog prevented the only evacuation option from reaching her.
The rescue succeeded on Tuesday morning. But the delay was not caused by incompetence. It was caused by the mountain itself.
For anyone planning to climb Rinjani, the lesson is simple: build buffer days into your itinerary. A fall on Monday does not guarantee a rescue on Monday. The mountain operates on its own schedule. So does the sky above it.
