Bell Helicopter rep probes crash in Dominican village

Santo Domingo.- A representative of the company Bell Helicopter heads a commission which as of Wednesday morning probes the crash of the chopper of opposition leader Miguel Vargas on Sunday, which injured the pilot and copilot.

The inspection headed by Bell specialist Mark C. Sctunzner seeks to determine what forced its crash.

Also taking part in the inspection are members of the security team of Vargas, president of the opposition party PRD and Emmanuel Souffront, head of the Civil Aviation Board’s Flight Accidents Investigating Commission, who said that the cause of the accident has yet to be determined.

He discarded however that the chopper crash was the result of lack of maintenance and noted that they look into if it had problems in its operating system.

The official added that the two parts of the helicopter, that crashed in the eastern village Amor de Dios, Yamasá, will be hauled to a hangar to reassemble and continue the evaluation.

According to an expert on choppers who had worked locally, Bell helicopters have the best aircraft safety record in the history of aviation.