On behalf of those of us at Aerogulf, please know that your good wishes and condolences during this incredibly difficult time are greatly appreciated. Those who are most devastated by this incredible loss, the families of Chris and Luis, have been made aware of your postings here on PPRuNe and are most grateful. During this worst experience of their lives, they have been truly amazed that their husbands/fathers have touched the lives of so many people literally all around the world as expressed by the hundreds and hundreds of condolences sent to them via phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and personal visits. We have been inundated with the same deluge of incoming messages at Aerogulf relaying the sadness felt by so many people.
We would also like to say thank you to the Aerogulf family who have come together so tightly to help each other out during this incredibly difficult time. This type of tragedy could tear some companies apart, but for us it has brought us all even closer together. They are a group of true professionals at every level who stand on top of a record of over 30 years of operations without a fatal accident until the night of 3 September 2008.
We cannot say much about the accident at this time as the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is investigating. The GCAA have brought in the U.S. NTSB who have sent over a designated representative with experience in accident investigations and in-depth expertise with Bell helicopters. Nobody knows with certainty the specifics of what happened to cause the crash, but we feel quite certain that we know the contributing factors to the most likely ‘probable cause.’ However, there are still a number of ‘possibilities’ that need to be ruled out. Speculating on our part, or any body else’s, will not be helpful at this time. I can say that all of us who have known Chris and Luis recognize that they are true professionals with extraordinary piloting skills, and we know that based on that knowledge of their abilities the saying that ‘there but for the grace of God go I…’ truly applies in this case. If the scenario that unfolded could have resulted in this tragedy with pilots of their experience and skill level in the cockpit, then it certainly could have happened to ANY of us. And all of us here are completely confident that the outstanding engineers in the maintenance department have not made any mistakes. This accident is like none I have seen or heard of before, and the only good thing that will come of it is the awareness that it will bring to others that may save lives in the future.
Again, all of us at Aerogulf thank you for all of your condolences and concerns. Please keep the families of Chris, Luis and the others lost in your thoughts and prayers…
Last edited by 21stCen; 13th Sep 2008 at 18:37.