SANTIAGO, Chile-- Searchers have found a plane that went missing last week with eight people aboard in the remote Aysen region of southern Chile. No one appears to have survived.
Gen. Carlos Bertes, combat chief of the Chilean Air Force, told a news conference Saturday that a search helicopter spotted the crashed plane in a remote woods and there appear to be no survivors.
Bertes says the recovery operation will be conducted by air because the area is too remote to be accessed by land, and could take several days.
The plane, a bimotor Beechcraft, was ferrying a woman suffering from heart problems, her husband, three medical workers and three crew members from the southern city of Punta Arenas when it crashed on Thursday morning.
AVIÓN CON 8 PERSONAS DESAPARECE CERCA DE PUERTO AGUIRRE
Plane disappears with 8 people close to Puerto Aguirre. Beechcraft B300 King Air 350, CC-AEB, INAER Helicopter Chile SA.
Santiago - An air ambulance with 8 people on board went missing shortly after midnight Wednesday in southern Chile; the plane was conducting an evacuation of a sick person from the city of Punta Arenas to Santiago de Chile.
Santiago - An air ambulance with 8 people on board went missing shortly after midnight Wednesday in southern Chile; the plane was conducting an evacuation of a sick person from the city of Punta Arenas to Santiago de Chile.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Chile (DGAC) confirmed that the air ambulance, model Beechcraft BE 300, registration CC-AEB, belonging to Inaer-Chile, with eight occupants aboard, disappeared near the locality of Puerto Aguirre in the Chilean Patagonia region.
According to information supplied by DGAC "the air ambulance attending a medical evacuation, left the city of Punta Arenas at 23:17 hrs. Wednesday to travel about 3,000 kilometres to Santiago." At 00:58 hours, approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Puerto Aguirre, the pilot declared an emergency and two minutes later radar contact with the plane was lost.
The general manager of Inaer-Chile, Rodrigo Lizasoain, said that 8 people were on board the plane, according to LaTercera (in Spanish). These include, the pilot, co-pilot, a woman who was the patient being evacuated to Santiago for emergency treatment, her husband and a medical team comprised by a doctor and paramedics. The Inaer representative also noted that both the pilot and co-pilot had the required skills and expertise to operate the aircraft under difficult conditions.
According to Chile’s Defense Minister, Andres Allamand, it is unknown whether the plane fell on helicopters are searching the region focusing on the area north-northeast of Puerto Aguirre, Puerto Aysén and sectors adjacent to Balmaceda. However, efforts are being hampered by the complex topography of the area which is uninhabited, lacks access by road, and is only reachable by air or sea. He added that the government will continue searching for the missing plane today and for the next seven days using all available resources including three naval vessels, a Twin Otter aircraft, a Black Hawk helicopter and additional helicopters provided by the Chilean Army and the National Police.
According to Chile’s Defense Minister, Andres Allamand, it is unknown whether the plane fell on the ground or at sea, but several planes and helicopters are searching the region focusing on the area north-northeast of Puerto Aguirre, Puerto Aysén and sectors adjacent to Balmaceda. However, efforts are being hampered by the complex topography of the area which is uninhabited, lacks access by road, and is only reachable by air or sea. He added that the government will continue searching for the missing plane today and for the next seven days using all available resources including three naval vessels, a Twin Otter aircraft, a Black Hawk helicopter and additional helicopters provided by the Chilean Army and the National Police.
INAER is a Spanish aeronautical company. The company, with a fleet of 360 aircraft and helicopters, has more than 2,400 employees and presence in Spain, Italy, France, UK, Portugal, Chile, Peru and Australia.
A Chilean plane involved in a medical evacuation in southern Chile was reported missing, Civil Aeronautics authorities reported on Thursday.
The air ambulance, carrying seven people, took off on Wednesday at 23:17 hours, local time, from Punta Arenas, the capital of the region of Magallanes and Antarctica, bound for Santiago.
The plane is a Beechcraft BE 300, registration CC-AEB, operated by the airline INAER Helicopter Chile SA, which reported an emergency at 00:58 hours, local time, on Wednesday northwest of Puerto Aguirre , a town in the Aysen region, about 500 kilometers from Santiago.
The plane's signal in the radar was lost after the alert was issued.
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