Chihuahua, Chih.- Following the unexpected crash of a helicopter in the Chihuahua dam, information was released yesterday about the activities carried out by the aircraft in the body of water that were related to flight practices and water loading to fight forest fires by a private company that sought to offer this service in the state. This was announced by the Director of Forest Development of the Secretariat of Rural Development of the State Government, Humberto Molinar, based on the testimony of those involved in the accident.
On this subject, the Secretary of Health, Gilberto Baeza, and the Secretary General of Government also provided information on what happened. Baeza mentioned that an immediate response was given by URGE, which treated the two injured people who only had multiple contusions that did not put their lives at risk.
“It is not an ordinary maneuver, there is a lot of risk here because the discharges are made in the forest and sometimes the helibucket can get stuck, that happened to us this year, fortunately there was no problem, he was a very expert pilot, but of course he moved the helicopter. Here in the practices, I mean, if they are going to train for this, well they were doing it in a very open dam. I don’t know if there was a mechanical failure and in the end it collapsed, but it was a training session for them. It is a private company, it is not part of the government or the federal government or anything,” he said.
Humberto Molinar, from SDR, emphasized that the use of the helibalde, or bambi bucket, involves complex maneuvers, which is why the difficult situation is understood and considered that training and highly specialized training are essential. Regarding the company, he said that it is based in the El Charco area, in this city of Chihuahua.
Health Secretary Gilberto Baeza said that the two crew members are out of danger and that a rescue team was immediately deployed by URGE. “They were lucky enough to survive and to have rescue units nearby,” said the Health Minister, who noted that their lives are not currently in danger and that the incident did not escalate.
Regarding the permits or sanctions for the incident, Santiago de la Peña explained that it will be the federal authority in civil aviation that must determine whether there was a flight plan and authorization to carry out such maneuvers.
“That is not the responsibility of the State Government. It is a federal issue because it concerns the use of airspace. I think the most remarkable thing is that of the three people involved, two crew members and another person who was operating the maneuver near the water, fortunately the consequences were not fatal,” he said.
#rented #helicopter #crashed #dam
