Five officers died this Sunday in southern Venezuela when an Armed Forces plane crashed while on a training flight, authorities reported.
The C-208B aircraft, belonging to the Military Aviation, “precipitated to the ground” 3 kilometers from the José Antonio Páez air base, in the jungle state of Amazonas, “while carrying out a flight training mission,” according to a statement from the Armed Forces, signed by the Defense Minister, General Vladimir Padrino López.
The event occurred at 06:56 local time (10:56 GMT), the document specifies.
The plane, according to the text, was piloted by Captain José Castillo Tovar, accompanied by also Captain Jefferson Aular, First Lieutenant Roberto Aponte and Lieutenants Santiago Collado and José Rivas.
“So far four lifeless bodies have been recovered and the search for the fifth continues,” he adds.
President Nicolás Maduro “has ordered to initiate the corresponding investigations in order to determine the possible causes of the incident” and “provide all the necessary support to the relatives of the deceased,” the statement said.
“Amazonas is in mourning. Sadness overwhelms us. Today an aircraft from Grupo 9 of the Bolivarian Aviation crashed to the ground and unfortunately there were no survivors,” the state governor, Miguel Rodríguez, posted on Twitter.
Group 9 is focused on serving indigenous communities in the region.
AFP
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