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Source: MSP
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are looking for an updated report of the helicopter that crashed in the San Juan River near the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Nov. 17, 2015, please visit our sister publication ICRNews: http://insidecostarica.com/2015/11/17/one-american-dead-three-persons-missing-helicopter-crash-costa-rica-nicaragua-border/
A rotary wing aircraft assigned to the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) crashed in the mountains of Talamanca, in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica, on Tuesday afternoon. There were five crew members aboard the helicopter when it went down.
According to a news wire filed by Karla Gutierrez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the crash occurred sometime after 4:00 pm. Crew members from Air Surveillance helicopter MSP 00112, similar to the old Bell UH-1 flown by the United States Army in the 20th century, were able to issue warnings over an emergency frequency right before the impact. The crash is being blamed on poor weather conditions; indeed, rain bands from a tropical storm in the Caribbean were soaking the Central Valley of Costa Rica around 5:00 pm.
News reports from Radio Columbia 98.7 FM indicated that the MSP 00112 pilot knew that he had to make a forced landing, which he communicated over the radio. Seconds later, the helicopter crash landed. Thankfully, the next report came from a hand-held unit carried by one of the crew members, who mentioned that everyone had survived without major injuries.
A spokesperson from the MSP explained that officers from Fuerza Publica (Costa Rica’s national police force) and from the National Border Police were rushing up the mountain and through the rainforest to get to the crash site. Due to weather conditions and the rough terrain, the search party will spend the night en route and reach their objective tomorrow morning.
