Friday, 29 January 2010

Three die in helicopter crash

New Zealander among the dead

By Matthew Pritchard
THREE men were killed last week when a coastguard helicopter crashed five miles off the coast of Almeria.

Events began last Thursday when the coastguard rescue helicopter, Helimar 207, was undertaking practice manoeuvres off the coast of Costacabana, close to Almeria city. At around 8.30pm the control tower at Almeria airport reported the helicopter had disappeared from its radar.

Coastguard and Guardia Civil units were dispatched immediately to search for the helicopter's four-man crew using infrared cameras to search for survivors.

However, they were only able to find one member of the helicopter's crew - winch operator, Alberto Elvira.

Sr Elvira was taken to the Torrecardenas hospital, suffering from hypothermia and a serious head injury. In interviews after the accident he described how close he had come to death. He said: "I took my life jacket off in order to dive down and look for my crewmates. But then I realised I was going to pass out and I managed to climb on top of a piece of wreckage. The next thing I knew, I was being rescued."

Mystery surrounds the cause of the accident. Sr Elvira was unable to remember events leading up to the crash. He said: "One moment we were flying, the next I was in the water."

Read more in this weeks Costa Almería edition

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Three die in helicopter crash