The Colombian Air Force (FAC) works in three lines of researchn to clarify the helicopter accident that crashed on Sunday while carrying out a humanitarian mission in the department of Vichada, in the east of the country, causing the death of its eight crew members.
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“When this type of accident happens, an investigation is initiated (…) to determine the causes of the accident. The causes may be operational, technical or human factor and these causes are those that are being evaluated in order to establish what happened.“he said, this Monday, September 30, the commander of FAC, General Luis Carlos Córdoba.
On Sunday, September 29, A Huey II helicopter with registration FAC-4441 crashed to the ground and its remains were found in the immense savannahs of Vichada, in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Cumaribo.
“This helicopter does not take flight without being fully prepared to fulfill the mission. All aircraft have their maintenance, and if any element does not comply with this readiness requirement to fulfill the mission, it is not operated.“explained the senior officer.
Likewise, he said that this was the first plane accident that the FAC has had since 2023: “We had been without any incidents for more than a year, we had not had any circumstances to regret“.
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The senior officer stressed that the occupants of The aircraft was flying with the intention of evacuating an indigenous person from the Piapoco community that he needed humanitarian assistance because his life was in danger due to a chest wound.
Córdoba pointed out that the weather conditions of the last few days in the area were not adequate, but “On Sunday morning it was observed that there is a ‘window’ of being able to operate (the helicopter)“.
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This is the third accident involving a Colombian military helicopter with fatalities this year.
On February 5, an Army UH-60 Black Hawk crashed in the Darién area, on the border with Panama, an accident that left four dead and three injured.
On that occasion the aircraft It was transporting cargo to the Cuti Binational Military Base, Unguía, in the department of Chocó.
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On April 29, nine soldiers were killed when another helicopter, an Army MI-17, It crashed in the Caribbean department of Bolívar while supplying troops in an operation against the Clan del Golfo criminal gang.
EFE
