The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Cavaliere (PSD), stated this Sunday (14) that the pilots who died in the collision between two helicopters in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, West Zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, were experienced professionals and were involved in training other aviators.
“A tragedy. A fatality. Something absolutely out of the ordinary, a collision between two helicopters. Two experienced pilots who were also instructors of other pilots”, he declared.
The accident left six people dead and mobilized teams from the Fire Department, the Civil Police and the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). According to Cavaliere, there is no record of victims other than the people who were on board the aircraft.
The mayor highlighted that the circumstances of the collision are still unknown and that the investigation will be the responsibility of the competent bodies.
“Cenipa will investigate and investigate. From this investigation we will have more information. The Civil Police have already carried out the investigation. There are still two victims to be released to the IML”, he said. Shortly after the speech, authorities confirmed that the two missing victims had been removed from the scene.
According to him, the priority at this time is to complete the victim identification procedures and await the results of the investigations.
“It’s a huge mobilization. It’s up to the competent authorities, each one doing their part, to find out what happened in this accident,” he said.
Destinations still awaiting official confirmation
Cavaliere informed that reports obtained from family members and owners of the aircraft indicate that the helicopters were heading to different destinations at the time of the collision.
“The information here from the families and owners is that one aircraft was going to Angra dos Reis and another to the mountains of Rio de Janeiro. But official information is yet to be confirmed and we need to wait,” he declared.
The acting mayor also stated that the names of the victims will only be released after the completion of the procedures carried out by the Legal Medical Institute (IML).
“Out of respect for the families, we will only release the identities after all the victims have been released to the IML,” he explained.
Cameras will help investigation
The aircraft crash occurred in a private area, in the courtyard of a car dealership on the banks of Avenida das Américas. According to Cavaliere, the location has several monitoring cameras that could provide important information to investigators.
“The fall happened on private land, in the yard of a private dealership and there are many cameras. These images could help in the investigation,” he said.
The acting mayor added that the accident caused temporary impacts on traffic and scared residents of the region, but the expectation is for the area to gradually return to normal.
“Impact on traffic, impact here in the surrounding area. Of course the residents were scared, but little by little we are returning to normality”, he concluded.
