national

Former SAN pilot testifies before public prosecutor

Public Prosecutor Castroverde summoned former SAN pilot to verify details given in his report.

Family members of the late Chilean police chief say they haven’t ruled out suing Panama.

Ivan uribe/La Prensa

further details:Alexis Camarena answered questions posed by Public Prosecutor Maruquel Castroverde yesterday about his February 2007 report alerting aviation authorities of the risks of continuing to fly the SAN-100 helicopter.1080388

President Martín Torrijos’ former helicopter pilot Alexis Camarena was questioned yesterday by Public Prosecutor Maruquel Castroverde about his February 2007 report cautioning aviation authorities against using the SAN-100 helicopter, which plummeted into a Calidonia warehouse on May 29, killing 11 of the 12 on board.

Following the interview, Camarena refused to provide details of his testimony to journalists. Instead, he suggested that the media “speak with my superiors.”

Consulted on the matter, Rigoberto Gordon, director of the Servicio Aéreo Nacional, said a statement would be released today, but revealed no further details. The minister de Gobierno y Justicia, Daniel Delgado Diamante, could not be reached for comment.

Attorney General Ana Matilde Gómez said that the existence of the Camarena report, which was the subject of a La Prensa article Monday, had taken her by surprise. She confirmed that Camarena had been summoned by Public Prosecutor Castroverde for the purpose of verifying the contents of the report.

Carlos Greco, SAN operations director, will also be called to testify, she added.

Greco would have been aware of the incident that prompted Camarena’s report. He filed it after experiencing problem in Veraguas, when the helicopter’s hydraulic system failed.

Alejandro Bernales Bianchini, the eldest son of Chilean police chief José Alejandro Bernales, who died in the May 29 crash, reiterated in an interview that his family has not ruled out filing a lawsuit against Panama.

In yesterday’s edition of the El Mercurio of Chile, Bianchini called on the Chilean chancellor to “investigate carefully the new information that is emerging and figure out why it didn’t appear in the investigators’ report.”