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Pilot’s report takes Chilean chancellor by surprise

Maydée Romero/LA PRENSA

new revelations: A report filed by a senior SAN pilot describing the SAN-100’s previous mechanical troubles took Chilean officials by suprise but will not likely affect the investigation into the May 29 crash.1079911

Chilean Chancellor Alejandro Foxley admitted yesterday that he was “surprised” about a report detailing problems with SAN-100 that was filed more than a year before a deadly crash that killed 11 people.

That report, filed by a senior Servicio Aéreo Nacional (SAN) pilot, recommended that the aging helicopter not be used to carry the president or other high-profile passengers.

“This took me by surprise, I didn’t have this information,” Foxley said from Chile.

The chancellor, however, wouldn’t speculate on the possible repercussions of the new details.

“I will not anticipate a trial, except to say that we’re on top of this, and that we’re following step by step and are obviously very concerned and continuously talking with the families,” he said.

The report, written by President Martín Torrijos’ personal pilot, Alexis Camarena, was apparently suppressed during the initial investigation because of its revelations about the conditions of the ill-fated SAN-100. In the report, Camarena details an uncannily similar emergency landing he was forced to make earlier last year, when the SAN-100’s hydraulics failed, freezing the rudder. That time, a delegation of Japanese officials were aboard.

Filed by Camarena last February, the report did not surface until recently. SAN Director Rigoberto Gordon claimed he was not aware of it. He did not, however, explain why the document had not been turned over to the prosecutor in charge of the case.

Viceministro de Gobierno Severino Mejía, agreed with Gordon in dismissing Camarena’s report as unrelated to the investigation of the crash that occurred last May 29. Eleven people were killed in that accident, including the head of Chile’s police force, José Alejandro Bernales, and several of his fellow officers.

“We must not draw a causal link between what happened and what could have been reported. We must remember that the ST-100 was an old helicopter that was never retired,” said Mejía.

“The investigations that were conducted found that it was more than 30 years old, but it was subjected to constant maintenance by the Servicio Aéreo Nacional,” he added.