Exactly one year ago, the lives of four families changed forever. Four young people, traveling from Chiclayo to Trujillo in a small plane belonging to the private school Juan Bielovucic Cavalier (JBC), died in the sea of Huanchaco. Since then, there is no trace of the aircraft, the academy changed its “image” and the relatives continue to fight tirelessly for justice.
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Irreparable
Among the victims were Santiago Aldaz Garcia (30), flight instructor; Mayt Jimenez Barreto (19) and Fabiana Hernandez Beard (18), students of the academy; and Boris Corrales Vasquez (24), aircraft mechanic. They all lost their lives on July 28, approximately six miles from the Huanchaco airport.
The pain is made even more palpable by the absence of Boris Corrales’ body, which was never found. His father, Bacilio Corrales Herrera, has not stopped searching, driven by hope and unconditional love for his son. In an interview with Diario Correo, faced with the obstacles and lack of answers in the country, he asks for international help. “What I am asking is that some people of good will and from other countries join this search. As a family we are always doing this work with the aim of finding my son’s body, it is the most important thing for me,” he said.
School is back
More than six months after the tragedy, JBC returned to “society” and relaunched its activities.
“JBC Aviation Academy informs that it has been fully acquired by a group of airline pilots with more than 30 years of aviation experience. The start of activities of the new pilot school, with new owners, new processes and new aircraft, is supervised by the National Aeronautical Authority”stated in a statement published on its Facebook account on February 7.
“It is outrageous how these people want to turn the page as if nothing had happened,” said Hector Jimenez, Mayt’s brother.
Diario Correo did, in fact, visit the headquarters of the private JBC school in the Huanchaco district. It was closed, but the entrance door displayed the new logo and isotype of “JBC Aviation Academy”.
“The company has not contacted us so far. My son has been working for this company since 2019, he issued receipts for fees. Usually, when an accident occurs, you expect someone to call you and give you some information, but in this case, nothing like that happened,” said Bacilio Corrales.
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They demand justice
Nataly DealbertMayt’s girlfriend, says that the school blocked them from social media. She also mentioned that the case was about to be archived, but a call log linked to one of the JBC workers made it possible to extend the process.
“Of the four witnesses who were supposed to testify, only one showed up and it is the least important. A JBC mechanic did not show up and it was the most important statement, as well as that of two other workers, and as far as I know, they have not been notified again,” he told.
In the case, it was reported that minutes before 7 p.m. on July 28, 2023, the aircraft made contact with the control tower of the Carlos Martínez de Pinillos airport in Huanchaco. The pilot declared an emergency. Afterwards, despite calls from the control tower, nothing more was known about the Cessna 172 model aircraft.
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Boris Corrales also reportedly warned of mechanical failures on more than one occasion. On the day of the flight, he was not on the crew list.
“During the process, no representative of this company contacted us,” added Nataly Dealbert.
The investigation into this tragic plane crash is being conducted by the Third Provincial Corporate Criminal Prosecutor’s Office of Trujillo, headed by prosecutor Jorge López Rodríguez.
The relatives, in this sense, hope that the case progresses and ends up in the courts of the Superior Court of Justice of La Libertad.
