Tragedy in Chile: a small plane involved in a fire crashed and its pilot died

A small plane who supported extinguishing forest fires crashed this Monday on a route to Chilecausing the death of its pilot, a Spanish citizen, and the injury of three other people who were traveling in their vehicles.

The accident occurred around 4.30pm near the Panguilemo airport, located in the community of Talca, in the center of the country and about 250 kilometers south of Santiago de Chile.

The Turbo Trush model aircraft, operated by the airline Air Andes SPA and providing services to the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), crashed to the ground after collide with electrical cablesaccording to the videos viralized online, and collided with two vehicles.

People passing by the scene tried to quickly rescue those affected by the serious accident.

CONAF confirmed this The victim’s name was Fernando Solans, 59 years old. and resident of Valencia, who have become “part of the legacy of the martyrs who gave their lives to safeguard the heritage of our country and thus protect the lives of its inhabitants”, as expressed by the entity in an official statement.

Christian Little, the service’s executive director, indicated that Solans was a “chief pilot in Spain” with “a lot of experience” and said he had suffered “severe burns” during the shocking episode on Route 5 South.

CONAF also assured that it “is actively collaborating with the authorities investigating the accident”, providing “all the information at its disposal”, with the aim of “clarifying the causes and circumstances in which this unfortunate event occurred “.

“THE the planes could have a technical failure and that is why research is needed. It’s too early to know the cause,” Little said, adding that “the fire” they were putting out “was very small, about 2,000 square meters.”

In this sense, the CONAF manager added: “It involved firefighting work. The fire was controlled and I was turning it off. Finally, he invited citizens to responsibly use a tool capable of generating a spark or lighting a fire.

The President of Chile, Gabriele Boric, spoke out about the tragedy on his social networks. “Every year thousands of people take on the difficult but noble task of fighting forest fires. Today we must mourn the death of pilot Fernando Solans who provided services to @conaf_minagri. My respects and deepest condolences to his family and loved ones,” the president wrote.