Sept 22, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Sofia/Blagoevgad - Southwest Bulgaria
The helicopter, which was reported missing earlier on Friday, was found
with the dead pilot's body in a remote ravine a couple of kilometres from the
village of Garmen (Southwest Bulgaria), the Interior Ministry said Friday
evening. A medical team is headed towards the scene.
A search and rescue was launched earlier in the day after connection was lost with the pilot, the involved institutions told BTA.
Connection was lost with the civil aviation helicopter used to spray
against pests, the Southwest State Enteprise (SWSE) Blagoevgrad told BTA,
explaining that this is a private helicopter hired by SWSE to spray against
pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa).
The helicopter and pilot's body were found Friday evening in a 50-metres
deep ravine, the Mayor of the nearby village of Gorno Dryanovo, Ibrahim Pingov,
told BTA. He was the leader of the volunteer formation that joined the search
efforts. Five volunteers have reached the crash site, said Pingov, who was
among them, explaining that the terrain is very difficult. Over 20 firefighters
and mountain rescue teams have started seaching for the aircraft in the
afternoon because they did not get information from the helicopter's GPS about
its location earlier, Pingov said.
The National Board for Aircraft, Maritime and Railway Accident
Investigation told BTA that the aircraft took off at 07:30 in the morning and
the connection with it was lost.
A military Cougar helicopter was also dispatched to search for the private
helicopter, reported missing near Garmen, the Defence Ministry said. The Cougar
took off at 2:01 pm from the Krumovo airbase. The Airforce personnel joined the
search operation as part of the national aviation accidents search and rescue
plan. The request came from the Civil Aviation Administration Directorate
General's search and rescue coordination centre, the Defence Ministry
said.
The head of the Blagoevrad Fire Safety and Civil Protection Regional
Directorate, Commissioner Valentin Vassilev, also told BTA that a search had
been launched for the aircraft after connection was lost.
The SWSE said that the helicopter landed in the village of Satovcha on
September 18 and sprayed pesticides around Satovcha and Garmen the following
day. On September 20, the aircraft sprayed near the village of Gega, after
which it landed in Garmen, where the pilots spent the night in SWSE's building.
The aircraft took off on Friday morning at around 7:30 am to return to its base
in the southern city of Plovdiv. A few hours later the connection with the
pilot was lost, SWSE said, adding that the helicopter was supposed to land in
the southern village of Tsalapitsa.
/bta/