Thursday, March 07, 2013

Aero Commander 500, N345MP

(Photo Courtesy: Cortesía JorgeGalindoMIJ)


 




On Friday's news, we broke the story of a plane, an Aero Commander 500 which had left Belize airspace without filing a flight plan, or making the required checks with customs and immigration - which is both illegal and suspicious. As we reported at the time, it left Belize from the Spanish Lookout airstrip on the afternoon of February 21st., without filing a flight plan - which would make it impossible to land anywhere legally. What made it even more suspicious is that the plane had been outfitted with extended range fuel tanks - enabling it to fly long distances.

And sure enough, illegality was afoot. Reports from newspapers in Venezuela say that the day after it left Belize, the plane made an illegal, early morning landing at an unauthorized airstrip in the Northwestern region of that country known as Acarigua. The onboard GPS showed its final destination as the Apura state, which borders with Colombia. Those onboard were Canadian David William Sawatzky and Colombian Jorge Armando Bustamante. They have been charged with illicit trafficking of narcotics and conspiracy to traffic. They were also charged with interference in the operation safety of civil aviation, diversion from and fraudulent acquisition of route, illegal piloting of aircraft and transportation of dangerous goods. They have been remanded to Los Llanos Prison.

The plane was detected by the Venezuelan military who saw an aircraft flying over at 2:40 in the morning of Friday February 22nd - almost exactly 12 hours after it left Belize. Now, the plane did not have a drug cargo on board, but Venezuelan newspapers report that their Criminal Investigations Branch screened the plane for drugs and found a substance that tested positive for cocaine.

Inside the plane, authorities found four cans of gasoline, a hand pump, a hose and an additional tank for fuel. Newspaper reports quote the pilot as saying that the stop was an emergency landing since they needed to refuel.

Venezuelan authorities confirmed what we first reported, that the fuel system had been modified with a tank that could hold 148 gallons to extend flying range.

And while it is now a case for Venezuelan authorities - what happened in Belize that made it possible for the flight to leave without all the legally required checks? Well, first off, the plane left from an authorized private airstrip in Spanish lookout. That is one of about 20 licensed private airstrips in Belize - and it was first licensed in 2005. The Belize Civil Aviation Department was aware of the plane's presence in Belize - and said they found it missing when they did regular surveillance at the airstrip on February 25th.

The aircraft is US registered and a search of its call letters shows the last owner of record as Max Hetherington from Corpus Christi, Texas who is known in Belize as a retiree. Reports are that he had been trying to sell the plane for some time.

David William Sawatzky is also well known in Belize as a Canadian Mennonite from Mango Creek where he is known to fly crop dusters and owns heavy equipment for farming. He is also a farmer and fresh fruit vendor.

Civil Aviation says it is now a matter for police - and at this time no sanctions have been taken against the owners of the private airstrip which we are told is the Spanish Lookout community.

Whenever an aircraft leaves Belizean airspace it is required to file a flight plane with civil aviation and make checks with customs, immigration and BAHA at the PGIA.


An aircraft Aero Coomander, N345MP U.S. registration was held at airport Acarigua for "violating airspace". Achieved the arrest of a Colombian and a Canadian who entered the country through illegal flight from Belize

Nestor Reverol, Interior and Justice Minister, today announced the arrest of a Colombian citizen and another Canadian who entered the country through an illegal flight from Belize to "duties of illicit drugs."

Reverol said last night that members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) arrested at airport Acarigua, Portuguesa, an aircraft Aero-registered Coomander N345MP who was "violating airspace".

"The aircraft came from Belize, a Central American illegal flight," said the minister.

He explained that the aircraft were a Canadian, David William Zawaski, 51, and a Colombian, Jorge Bustamante, 31, who were arrested and brought to the order of the Prosecutor.

The official said the aircraft, which had auxiliary fuel tanks for a flight range of more than eight hours, was bound for "a track unauthorized Meta sector", Apure state (west), on the Colombian border .

"It was to be used for work of drug smuggling on the border with Colombia," he said.


Una aeronave Aero Coomander, matrícula estadounidense N345MP, fue retenida en el aeropuerto de Acarigua por “violar el espacio aéreo”. Se logró la detención de un colombiano y un canadiense que ingresaron al país mediante un vuelo ilícito procedente de Belice

Néstor Reverol, ministro de Interior y Justicia, informó hoy sobre la detención de un ciudadano colombiano y otro canadiense que  ingresaron al país mediante un vuelo ilícito procedente de Belice para "labores del tráfico ilícito de drogas".

Reverol explicó que anoche efectivos de la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana (GNB) detuvieron en el aeropuerto de Acarigua, estado Portuguesa, una aeronave Aero Coomander de matrícula estadounidense N345MP que se encontraba "violando el espacio aéreo".

"La aeronave venía procedente de Belice, de un vuelo ilícito en Centroamérica", indicó el ministro.

Detalló que en la aeronave viajaban un canadiense, David William Zawaski, de 51 años, y un colombiano, Jorge Bustamante, de 31, que fueron detenidos y puestos a la orden de la Fiscalía.

El funcionario dijo que la aeronave, que tenía tanques auxiliares de combustible para una autonomía de vuelo de más de ocho horas, tenía como destino final "una pista no autorizada en el sector del Meta", estado Apure (oeste), en la frontera colombiana.

"Iba a ser utilizada para labores del tráfico ilícito de droga en la frontera con Colombia", señaló.


This plane, an Aero Commander 500 is under investigation after it reportedly left Belizean airspace from a licensed airfield in Western Belize on the afternoon of February 21st without a flight plan. It might sound like just some missing paper work, but the absence of a flight plan makes it impossible to land at any legal airport in the world. More than that, it suggests that illicit cargo could have been involved. Typically, such a flight - if it intends to leave Belizean airspace - would have to first fly to the Phillip Goldson international, check with immigration, customs and police and file a flight plan with civil aviation, and then it could leave the country.

The plane was reportedly equipped with long range tanks to enable a longer flight - about 800 miles. Due to the late breaking nature of the story, we were unable to get comment from Civil Aviation. We will follow up on Monday though.

No comments:

Post a Comment