QCOSTARICA — It was minutes noon on Monday when the Pavas airport control tower lost contact with the light plane, tail TI-GER, bound for the Tobias Bolaño airport after notifying the pilot to diver to the Juan Santamaría airport (San José airport) due to inclement weather conditions.
Following protocol, the Directorate of General Aviation (DGAC) issued an alert 30 minutes later. It would be around 2:30 pm when an aerial search crew spotted the downed plane in the mountains of Escazú, in the area of Pico Blanco.
– Advertisement –
It would be hours later, around 8:30 pm when search and rescue, with the help of ‘baqueanos’, persons who know the mountainside thoroughly, its roads, paths, geographical features, fauna and flora, to reach the wreckage.
One of the baqueanos recalled hearing the voice of a woman some 50 meters from where he was standing. Paola Amador Segura, 31 years of age, was the only survivor.
At around 9 pm, the Red Cross confirmed that five people died and only one person was alive on the plane operated by AeroCaribe. Initially, at 8:46 pm it was reported that two of the passengers were still alive and were trapped.
Rescue crews from the Crus Roja Costarricense (Red Cross) and Bombers (Fire Department), assisted by national and local police forces and volunteers worked through the night to remove the woman, the only survivor of the crash.
– Advertisement –
It was minutes before 7:00 am this Tuesday morning, some 16 hours after the accident, that rescuers were able to get Amador to the waiting ambulance and to the Juan de Dios Hospital in downtown San José.
Also: Father of pilot killed in Monday’s plane crash died in a similar accident
The dead were identified as:
– Advertisement –
- Mario Alberto Miranda, pilot
- Ruth Pamela Mora, copilot
- Jean Franco Segura
- Gabriela Calleja
- Enrique Castillo
The flight plan
The Air Caribe operated flight left the Pavas airport Monday morning, bound Barra del Tortuguero, in the northern Caribbean. The four passengers aboard were on a work detail, for the tourism company they worked for.
The plane left Tortuguero minutes before noon, headed for the Pavas airport, before being directed to the San Jose airport due to bad weather conditions at the Tobias Bolaños air terminal.
For now, the air accident is attributed to adverse weather conditions.
– Advertisement –
Source link
Rico
