Mexican governor and senator husband down in helicopter crash 24/12/2018

[Carbon Bootprint]

From the Beeb (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46677061):

The governor of Mexico's central Puebla state, Martha Erika Alonso, has died in a helicopter crash, just days after being sworn into office.

Her husband, Senator Rafael Moreno Valle, and two pilots were also killed. Reports say there was a third passenger on board, who also died.

Monday's accident happened shortly after the aircraft took off from the state capital of Puebla.

Ms Alonso became Puebla's first female governor after hotly contested polls.

The 45-year-old was a member of the centre-right PAN party.

The deaths of the governor and her husband were confirmed by Mexico's new President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

May they RIP. From the article, it seems that helicopter crashes are not that uncommon with Mexican politicians. At this point I don't wish to speculate on why that is so.

[India Four Two]

The pictures show a tail skid which looks like an A109

[Non-PC Plod]

BBC is reporting that it was an Agusta type

[GordonR_Cape]

Initial reports were very sketchy, but CNN has some details: https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/24/americas/puebla-state-governor-martha-erika-alonso-dead/ (https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/24/americas/puebla-state-governor-martha-erika-alonso-dead/index.html)

The crash occurred at 2:40 p.m. local time about ten minutes after takeoff,

"When the aircraft was in flight some three nautical miles from the Puebla airport


The helicopter was an AugustaWestland AW109, which was owned by the Puebla-based company Servicios Aereos del Altiplano,

[helipixman]

Agree with India Four Two it looks like an Agusta 109 Power.

As Carbon Bootprint mentions there have many Mexican Ministers killed in helicopter crashes.

RIP to all involved

[malabo]

Aviation-Safety rpt (https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=220047)

10 miles and 3 minutes after takeoff. Too bad the Mexicans won’t invite the AAIB in to help.

[SASless]

Odds are the CIA/DEA or MI-6 would be better choices!

[heliduck]

Odds are the CIA/DEA or MI-6 would be better choices!

My thoughts exactly!!

[Lonewolf_50]

My first reaction to this story was "who was out to kill her?" but that is tainted by my own experiences with Mexico in Mexico ... very sad to see this story. :{ Beyond that, 48 hour rule in effect for me.

[Bell_ringer]

Isn't it safe to say that accidents aren't uncommon irrespective if you hold office or are a member of a cartel.
Probably safer ways to travel in that neck of the woods.

[Kulwin Park]

You couldn't pay me enough to be a pilot on that gig! Imagine always being a 'marked target' due to your "cargo" onboard!

You would want those flares & a missile jamming system onboard, that I recently read that was fitted to a A109

[westhawk]

Nobody pays like the cartels it is said. And they have a reputation of "making an offer which cannot be refused" as well. (Maybe cartel bosses saw "The Godfather" like everyone else?)

For those reasons I would imagine it might be exceedingly difficult to find help you can really trust. Guards, mechanics, government officials... All potentially on an illicit payroll. Nope, wouldn't even consider flying *Mexican politicians!

*Mexican Politician or candidate should perhaps be considered for inclusion in "World's most Dangerous Jobs?

[HeliHenri]

.
Just to speak about facts :
In the last 10 months, there have been at least 6 crash of AW109 with 22 fatalities and 4 injured
One of the crash happened in Mexico after a missed take off (The 4 injured).
P.S 1 : Politicians in Mexico are very hight users of business aviation.
P.S 2 : AW109 are very populars amongst Mexican helicopters' operators.
.

[SASless]

There once were rumors of a VIP Job in Uganda for 212 Pilots.....again one of those jobs that would have had to pay very...very well for it to be even considered.