According to witness testimony, the impact occurred “around 6:55 am,” when the aircraft lost control and collided with a building.
MIAMI, United States. – An irrigation plane model 18-1832, belonging to the National Air Services Company (ENSA), hit this Wednesday against offices located on the runway of the town of Las Nuevas, in the Sancti Spiritus municipality of The Sierpewithout leaving any injuries, according to the provincial newspaper Escambray.
The media confirmed that the crash caused material damage to the administrative infrastructure of the enclave, one of the main rice emporiums in the country, but reiterated that “no injuries have been reported.” The crew, made up of a pilot and a technician, “did not suffer any harm.”
According to the testimony of witnesses cited by the newspaper, the impact occurred “around 6:55 am,” when the aircraft lost control and collided with the building. Specifically, the report indicates that the incident occurred when “the aircraft’s brakes failed.”
Escambray He also reported that Ernesto Cuéllar, director of ENSA, declared “exclusively” to the media that he was traveling to the area accompanied “by a commission of experts” to evaluate both “the causes of the event” and the material damage caused by the accident.
The newspaper recalled that this type of light aircraft is used in Cuba for crop fumigation, particularly in rice-growing areas such as La Sierpe, in addition to participating in large fire extinguishing operations.
Until the closing of this note, no official technical communications from ENSA or the Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba had been published on the definitive causes of the impact, the exact extent of the damage or possible measures to avoid new incidents in this area of high agricultural activity.
This Wednesday’s incident joins other recent events in agricultural aviation in Sancti Spíritus, also documented by the Escambray in previous years.
In June 2024, the same medium reported the crash of an agricultural plane—in that case, a PZL M-18 model—in the Peralejo area, also in the municipality of La Sierpe, while carrying out fumigation work. According to that report, the pilot was injured, although not life-threatening, after the aircraft collapsed during a routine operation.
