WILLEMSTAD--Measures will be taken against the pilot who took Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte (MFK) and a guest on a flight over Curaçao and Klein Curacao, on March 26 of this year. Minister of Transport Charles Cooper (MAN) stated this in a letter answering questions by then-still-PAR parliamentarian Anthony Hollander. Cooper confirmed that the pilot did not have the necessary permission to perform the flight.
The flight of March 26 was part of a visit to Curaçao by a delegation of ambassadors and consul-generals resorting under the Dutch Kingdom's Directorate of the Western Hemisphere. Schotte took director Mariyem van den Heuvel along for a helicopter ride over Curaçao and Klein Curaçao.
However, the flight was not performed in accordance with the "flight plan" and the incident led former Hollander to present Cooper with a series of questions on April 12.
In his reply, the minister states that the helicopter has a Venezuelan registration (YV-2715) and that an employee of the Bureau Operations of the Commander of the Royal Navy in the Caribbean Area at Parera reported that the helicopter flew over the naval base.
In the letter, Hollander asked whether Schotte had given the pilot instructions regarding the flight plan and landing. He based such on statements from the then-photographer of the young prime minister – currently his PR officer – Ramsay Soemanta, who indicated on his Facebook page on March 27 that Schotte had given "clear instructions" to the co-pilot.
Cooper refrained from answering that question, stating that he does not know, because he was not on board the helicopter that day. Nevertheless, he indicated that the pilot – and not any passenger on board – always remains responsible.
Neither do requests from individuals, including the prime minister, indemnify the pilot from observing the local laws and rules, the MAN minister stated.
According to Cooper, the helicopter landed twice at Klein Curaçao and the Motet Wharf. Both areas are not described as aviation terrain and the pilot had not requested nor been granted dispensation, based on the Aviation Ordinance.
The captain thus violated this national ordinance and can expect measures: "either an admonition or a more severe step," wrote the minister. The Directorate of Aviation is still investigating the matter.
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