Táchira helicopter crash [SEP] point in time
Táchira helicopter crash
The Táchira helicopter crash was the loss of a Venezuela Army helicopter and its 18 occupants on 3 May 2009. The helicopter crashed at around midday local time (16.30 UTC) near El Alto de Rubio in the north-western state of Táchira in Venezuela. All eighteen people aboard the aircraft were killed. The dead included Brigadier-General Domingo Faneite, two army pilots, fourteen other army personnel and one civilian, named as Cristian Velazquez. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who was a retired army Lieutenant-
and rescue helicopter was scrambled from Culdrose. The Navy's Westland Wessex helicopter arrived at the accident site first, but lacking sufficient information to pinpoint the crash location, and with fog banks still around, the pilot landed at St Mary's for more information. Langley-Williams said that at one point, the helicopter had been right above them, but unable to see them in the fog.
Around this time, the "Robert Edgar" arrived at the accident site, which it was able to identify due to the