18/10/2019
Helicopter crash pilot warned of lack of fuel
27/05/2019
The tragedy claimed the lives of six people; five sailors and one civilian. Photo: Government of Querétaro
Everything happened when Semar's aircrafts carried out work to put out the Sierra Gorda forest fire in Querétaro; the helicopter collapsed in the vicinity of Valle Verde, exactly on the border of San Luis Potosí.
"We come here with the purpose of providing support with flights, but the limitation, what is it? We do not have a turbocharger in the area where we are developing" explained the deceased pilot through a video that he recorded just before boarding the fallen aircraft, an MI-17 helicopter.
In the same video clip, Ramos Machorro explained that the unit with registration 2206, consumed 800 liters of fuel per hour.
"It would be very important that some way be managed so that a fuel pipe was here in the area and provide us with fuel support, so we do not have to go to recharge the nearest airport that is Queretaro."
He explained that the place of the fire, was far, approximately, 800 miles.
"We would lose practically an hour and a half of flight to go and return."
Unfortunately, Miguel Angel Ramos Machorro was one of the five persons that lost his life after a Secretariat of the Navy helicopter crash.
The Secretariat of the Navy Navy of Mexico confirmed the finding of the bodies of the crew of the helicopter MI-17, which collapsed last Friday in the region of the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro when participating in the fight against a forest fire
89 kilometers north of Jalpan de Serra, Querétaro, were found the remains of the MI-17 helicopter of Semar, which was carrying five marine crew members and an inspector of the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), all of them who were unfortunately found dead.
The search was carried out with the support of personnel of the National Defense Secretariat and other institutions of the three levels of government, by means of aerial patterns, which had to be suspended due to the adverse weather conditions that occurred on Friday night. and the early hours of Saturday. At the same time, the search was continued by land means, despite the obstacles of the orography of the area, the Navy said in a statement.
A group consisting of an officer and 20 naval elements arrived at the scene of the incident and was able to identify the vestiges of the aircraft. Similarly confirmed that those who went in the helicopter were five elements of the Navy and an inspector of Conafor.
The five sailors are the captain Miguel Ángel Ramos Machorro, the naval lieutenant José de Jesús Medina Santiago, the frigate lieutenant Carlos del Toro Rosas and the sailors Misael Marses Maldonado and Andrés Valdovinos López. The employee of the Conafor was Luis Fernando, Pérez Balderas.
The Navy reported that in coordination with other authorities engaged in reconnaissance and search work in the area of the incident, they will maintain a landing zone and a base of operations, reinforced with air, land and personnel units of the Mexican Navy.
Regrets accident
According to a statement from the Navy, this Saturday morning, around 06:00 hours, "a group composed of an officer and 20 naval elements arrived at the scene of the incident to identify the vestiges of the aircraft."
The search team went into an area approximately 89 kilometers north of the municipality of Jalpan de Serra, Querétaro, where it was possible to carry out the search and rescue tasks. In as much, the governor of Querétaro, Francisco Domínguez Servién, external his grief by the tragedy happened in that entity.
"In the name of society and government, we unite, we always extol their heroic service in favor of the highest causes in all of Mexico," the president said in a message broadcast on social networks in which he added that "we will support our Armed Forces In everything that is within our reach, we have always counted on your unconditional and supportive support, count on Queretaro." He added that "to the entire mountain population I reiterate that the efforts to fight the fire will not stop, the operative tasks, coordination, communication, and management remain active, together we will move forward".
Three cistern helicopters were working to put out the forest fire in San Juan de los Durán, municipality of Jalpan de Serra, in the Sierra Gorda.
The crew of aircraft MI-17 transported water to the area burned in an external container of 2,500 liters when the accident was reported.
Conafor reports 115 forest fires in 21 states.
By Agencies
