BRIEFS: National

Aviation official discounts san-100 report

The near crash landing reported by former SAN-100 pilot Alexis Camarena in his February 2007 report was not the aircraft’s only known problem, said Autoridad Aeronáutica Civil (AAC) director Eustacia Fabrega yesterday.

“The helicopter had to have many technical problems fixed during its lifetime," he acknowledged. Fabrega has insisted that Camarena’s report represented an internal communication within the Servicio Aéreo Nacional (SAN), and that, in his view, its warning to avoid using the helicopter for diplomatic functions did not refer to the aircraft’s technical operations.

Fabrega insisted that the Ministerio Público had known of the existence of the report all along, just like the information contained in the helicopter’s file and maintenance records.

The AAC director also said he had “no doubt” that human error was responsible for the May 29 crash, rejecting SAN director Luis Gordon’s defense of the pilot’s actions as “a personal opinion.”