• Air crash: seven dead, two of them minors, after a crash between a helicopter and a plane in Mallorca
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It was an unexplained accident, a situation in which there was no environmental circumstance that favored the collision. In short, a seemingly avoidable tragedy. Aviation experts agree in general terms when assessing as "bad luck" the air crash between a plane and a helicopter that took place last Sunday in Inca and resulted in seven fatalities, including two minors.

The head of the Aviation School, Biel Gomila, summarizes what happened in the "bad fortune" that both devices had when they coincided at the same point on the island, when at that time there were no other planes in the entire airspace of Mallorca .

Gomila understands that, in one way or another, there had to be a human error for the plane and helicopter to end up impacting, especially when there was no external factor that could hinder the piloting of any of the devices.

For this reason, the head of the Binissalem airfield, Pablo Ruiz, describes the accident as "very rare" and also points out the human factor when seeking an explanation.

Not surprisingly, helicopter and ultralight have a large glazing that facilitates a large field of vision. "Just having a look, they should have seen each other," Ruiz explained yesterday, who also resorted to "bad luck" to define what happened on Sunday as a "misfortune" in the most serious plane crash in Mallorca.

The president of the Mallorcan Aeronautical Federation, Miguel Buades, also points out that, although the helicopters have their black dot on the roof, they also refer to the good visibility of these aircraft and helicopters. the external vision in the case of ultralights is almost total.

Human error is the thesis that also supports the mayor of Binissalem, Víctor Martí, who also emphasizes that the existing aerodrome in the municipality, from where the plane left, complies with "all security measures" required by law.

From Enaire, a company that manages the airspace, they recalled yesterday that the area of ​​Mallorca in which the accident occurred corresponds to a Class G space, in which the aircraft fly in visual flight conditions and according to international rules, in which no air control service is provided nor are there mandatory requirements for maintaining radio communication with the air traffic controllers.

That is, it is an area below 300 meters high in which the responsibility for maintaining separation with the ground and with the other aircraft in the area is the pilots themselves.

Meanwhile, the residents of the area closest to the accident were still impacted by what they experienced yesterday. Many of them were eyewitnesses to the tragic air collision, having peeked due to the "very low altitude" to which the helicopter was flying. They were also the first in charge of trying to quell the flames, although as David had yesterday, they had to do it with great caution because they were aware of the possibility that the fuel generated small explosions, just as it happened.

In fact, a couple residing in that rural area of ​​the Raiguer had to be treated at the Inca Hospital - located only 400 meters from the zero zone - after having inhaled smoke from one of the damaged devices.

After a tragedy that has reached international dimension, most of the institutions of the Islands kept a minute of silence yesterday with which to remember the seven moral victims, two Spaniards, four Germans and an Italian.

The president of the Government, Francina Armengol, recalled the "support and respect" to colleagues and friends of the deceased, after the simple act of homage carried out by political authorities in front of the Consolat de Mar. It was the first of the three days of mourning decreed by the regional Executive, which will make the flags fly at half-mast.

Meanwhile, details of those who lost their lives in Sunday's fatal accident are known. The digital Nautical Gazette explained yesterday that the death of Cedric Leoni, the pilot of the helicopter, has caused great consternation among the collective of photographers and camera operators specialized in nautical and regattas of Mallorca. Not surprisingly, most of them had ever flown with the ill-fated transalpine pilot, and they all agree on highlighting their "sympathy, good treatment and professionalism", describing what happened in the sky of Inca as "a difficult blow to digest."

They also showed their dismay yesterday in the Rotana reserve of Manacor, where August Inselkammer was a regular, the German who on Sunday celebrated his 43rd birthday accompanied by his wife, Christina, and their two children, Max and Sophie, aged eleven and seven . Everyone lost their lives in an instant, while the two occupants of the plane, Juanjo Vidal and his friend Gustavo Adolfo Serrano, also died in an accident that unfortunately will go down in the history of air tragedies in Mallorca.

Commission of inquiry

Neither helicopters nor airplanes have black boxes that let you know what happens on board in the moments before an accident. But Civil Aviation technicians hope to find out what happened during those fateful seconds. To do so, the four people who make up the accident investigation commission are already in Mallorca since yesterday afternoon.

They will be the ones who, collecting testimonies from the witnesses and analyzing each one of the remnants of the devices, one day during these days, must determine why this collision occurred, apparently so difficult to occur. At the same time, the Civil Guard, accompanied by specialist dogs, strives to find the remains of the seven people who were traveling aboard the helicopter and the ultralight wrecked, in tasks that will continue over the next few days.

The delegate of the acting Government, Ramón Morey, stressed yesterday that the technicians displaced to Mallorca have a profile of "much qualification" and can work in this way to clarify the causes of the accident, in coordination with the Civil Guard, which guards the area to prevent contamination of the perimeter.

Morey emphasizes that the Investigation Commission arrives on the island without a return ticket and willing to extend its mission "as necessary" to solve the mysterious causes of an unexplained accident for aviation experts.

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