Events The 60-year-old pilot of the DGT helicopter that crashed in Robledo was arrested after testing positive for cocaine
Events The worst trip of Luis, the DGT pilot who tested positive for drugs after crashing his helicopter: "It led us to spin"
Events Accident of a DGT Pegasus helicopter in Madrid
With each passing day the surprises do not stop due to the accident of the DGT helicopter in Robledo de Chavela last Sunday morning.
The last one is that the device was traveling as a stowaway.
In addition, the 60-year-old pilot, who was arrested for testing positive for cocaine, was the camera operator crew member, who is a Traffic official.
Now it has been known that there
was a third occupant, the wife of the camera operator,
according to sources from the investigation and El Debate announced yesterday.
The lady had gotten on the helicopter to enjoy the aerial views of the region.
This is stated in the flight plan of the helicopter that left the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome in Madrid.
The most striking thing is that after the accident the woman left the aircraft to try to hide her presence.
The data from the third person in the helicopter was hidden by both the pilot and the camera operator crew member.
It was discovered when the Cuatro Vientos control tower was asked for the flight plan.
This only authorized two people in the device.
However, the controllers had given the start with three people on board.
They asked the 58-year-old camera operator who the
third person was and after several detours he confessed: "I asked the pilot for permission to take my wife up and he gave me the
OK
. So the three of us flew," he acknowledged.
Now it is suspected that the accident could have been due to the fact that the pilot tried to show his skill in the flight and landed somewhere in the mountains.
When taking off, the helicopter was able to hit a branch and another object, forcing it to make an emergency landing some 170 meters from the M-512.
The version of the pilot, who tested positive for drugs, is different from the first hypotheses.
He has pointed out that he had just entered a stationary flight when
the device "sank", and he could no longer regain control until it hit the ground.
According to the preliminary report of the accident prepared by the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC), to which EFE has had access, the aircraft had taken off from the Cuatro Vientos airport approximately 40 minutes before the accident, which occurred in the term municipality of Robledo de Chavela.
The flight had passed without incident until they reached the M-512 highway,
where they were going to a traffic monitoring activity due to the presence of motorists in Puerto de la Cruz Verde.
According to the pilot's description, which is included in the report, they had just entered a hover when the helicopter "dipped down."
The pilot then began a descent and a turn to the right to try to regain control, but
the helicopter made contact with the ground in the opposite direction to the one it had at the start of the manoeuvre.
After hitting the ground, the aircraft came to rest 167 meters from the M-512 highway, on a steep bank leaning on its left side, with the tail cone detached from the fuselage and below it.
Once the accident occurred, the crew member was transferred with minor injuries to the Puerta de Hierro hospital.
His partner and the pilot were unharmed.
The pilot left the place in the car of a relative who came to pick him up.
In the afternoon the Civil Guard went to his home to carry out the protocol alcohol and drug test.
He tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines and was arrested.
The judge released him with charges.
The preliminary report of the CIAIAC, under the Ministry of Transport, adds that
the remains of the aircraft were concentrated in a radius of 40 meters around the helicopter
and that the occupants left the helicopter by their own means.
It also confirms that three people were traveling in the DGT helicopter, two crew members and a passenger.
Sources close to the investigation have assured EFE that the flight was scheduled some time ago and that only the pilot, who tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines after the incident, and a crew member in charge of the surveillance camera that carries the aircraft were to travel on it.
For their part, sources from the General Directorate of Traffic have told EFE that
an internal "reserved information" has been opened to examine the way in which the pilot,
who was arrested by the Civil Guard accused of a crime against air safety, proceeded.
It is, according to the sources, a step prior to the opening of a disciplinary file, since the investigation into the specific causes of the incident is still open.
The DGT dismisses this type of "malpractice" among its workers as "reprehensible" and, if the responsibility of the pilot in the event is clarified, they will take the appropriate measures.
The crashed helicopter is a Eurocopter AS355 N Ecureuil 2
, an aircraft valued at around three million euros and operated in Spain by the regional police, traffic and forestry agents.
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