Jakarta   -   New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been released from captivity by rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua region and is in good health despite the 19-month ordeal, Indonesian and New Zealand authorities said Saturday. Mehrtens, 38, was working for Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was snatched by rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) insurgent group at Papua’s Nduga airport on February 7 last year. A joint task force of police and military forces collected Mehrtens in a village of Nduga district early Saturday, before he was given medical and psychological checks and flown to the Papuan city of Timika, said the unit’s head Faizal Ramadhani. Mehrtens will be flown onwards to the capital Jakarta, the unit head said at a press conference, without detailing where the pilot would go afterwards. “Today I have been freed. I am very happy that shortly I will be able to go home and meet my family,” Mehrtens told reporters in Timika, speaking in Indonesian. “Thank you for everybody who helped me today, so I can get out safely in a healthy condition.” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Mehrtens was “safe and well” and had been able to speak with his family. “This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones,” Peters added. Mehrtens was providing vital air links and supplies to remote communities at the time of his abduction. The task force released footage of an emotional Mehrtens taking a phone call from his family, with one unidentified loved one heard saying “hang in there”.