Tragedy on Jorge Chavez: what do the parties involved in the accident that killed two firefighters say?

After an accident last Friday at the Jorge Chavez airport, in which two firefighters and one still seriously injured, concessionaire Lima Airport Partners (LAP) reported today, Sunday, that on the day of the accident, firefighters aboard the ambulance carried out a maneuver called “response time” coordinated the day before with “Air Traffic Control (Korpak)”.

“This exercise is stipulated by the Aviation Regulations (RAP 314), one of its characteristics is the speed with which the rescue units must enter the runway (…) It is important to note that this operation was previously agreed between LAP D frame (…) In this case, the coordination began on November 17 and frame He proposed to hold the exercises from 15:00 to 16:00 the next day,” the company said in a statement.

A few hours after this announcement TCM He gave his protection by corroborating the company’s information. These versions are in addition to what has already been stated by various parties involved in this matter, such as Corpac and Latam Airlines. However, the main question remains: what happened?

“Unusual for mobility to interfere”

Donald Castillo GallegosDirector General of the GAI VTS, in dialogue with TV Peru, confirmed the concessionaire’s version.

“What the statement says is true. There was quite close coordination, because such exercises are planned and properly controlled, because they are usually carried out with or without operations, ”he said.

In this sense, Lock He noted that “whenever these exercises are carried out, there are usually operations” and confirmed that the maneuver was scheduled for 15:00. However, he doubted that the ambulance that the plane collided with Latham had permission “former confessed” to enter the track.

“There was communication, there was agreement, but this does not mean that entry into the active track is authorized (…) The exercise is authorized, but this does not mean that using this exercise you will go to enter the runway when there is an aircraft, who is in full race,” he said.

In addition, he called it “unusual” that the fire department entered the highway without a permit.

“Something happened, something went wrong. Perhaps these were messages, decisions, a number of things that Accident Investigation Commissions because you usually don’t get mobility, no matter how much exercise you have, if you don’t direct resolution to enter the runway, even more so when it is used by an aircraft in full flight (…) direct resolution towers,” he said.

However, the official TCM He declined to confirm whether the fire truck was actually allowed to drive onto the runway at the time of the accident.

“Either they had permission or not, I can’t say, it would be speculation. This information, in addition to what we saw on the video, will become known in the light of the records and the black box of the aircraft, which also has records from the tower. There was a connection between the plane and the tower where it was allowed to take off,” he said.

Corpac: “There was no entry permit for any vehicle”

Yesterday Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (Corpac) Jorge Salinasemphasized that there was no permission for the vehicle to enter the runway jorge chavez airport, last November 18th.

“There is no permission for any vehicle to enter the runway. There is permission to conduct exercises, but it is outside the areas where transit work is currently underway, ”he said.

Also, Salinas called the fatal accident a runway runway and did not confirm what the real causes of the tragic accident were.

Latham: “The control tower must react”

For its part, the CEO of Latam Airlines Peru, Manuel Van Ordt, Last Friday, he indicated that he did not know the reasons why the aviation fire engine was on the runway during the takeoff of flight LA2213. Likewise, he said he was unaware of the maneuver previously coordinated between frame D LAP.

“We do not know what this truck was doing there (…) I learned from the media that there were these exercises. We were not informed about any exercises,” he said.

He also indicated that although they would be aware of the investigation, it would control tower the one that has to answer about the accident, since it is he who is responsible for allowing vehicles or aircraft to enter the runway.

“Normal procedure is that the runway is controlled control tower which must give permission for any entry to the runway. We are waiting for the investigation to clarify this fact, ”he commented in a dialogue with the press.

Transportation Commission of the Congress cited the head of the military-technical cooperation

The Congressional Commission on Transport and Communications will hold on Monday, November 21, extraordinary session, from 14:00 to assess the details of the accident registered at Jorge Chavez International Airport.

AT News extensionthe head of the working group, Luis Aragon (People’s Action), explained that the session was invited Richard TineoMinister of Transport and Communications; Jorge SalinasChairman of the Board of Corpac; Manuel van OrdtCEO of Latam Peru; Juan Salmon, general manager of Lima Airport Partners (LAP); as well as Louis Ponce HaraCommander-in-Chief of the Fire Department.

“We have invited the Minister of Transport and Communications, the chairman of the board of directors of Corpac, the chief executive of Latam and LAP, and the commander in chief of the fire department,” he said yesterday, Saturday.

Aragon explained that it was urgent to listen to the arguments of the defense of the participants in the operation at the airport in order to determine the degree of responsibility and to find out how each of the sectors acted when the clash between fire engine and Latham airline plane which was about to take off towards Giuliaki (Puno).

“This is a special meeting at which we need official information about the facts, about what happened. We want to see the degree of responsibility, the immediate action of each of the sectors. Although this is true, all the subjects have made statements, but we do not have clear information,” the deputy said.