A pilot was killed in a collision between two small civilian planes near Guasuvira, in the department of Canelones, Uruguay. The incident occurred around noon during a training flight in formation in the area of the private airport “Green“.
After the contact between the machines, one of the planes managed to return and make an emergency landing at the airport. The pilot was not physically injured, but was in shock. The second plane crashed in a wooded area about two kilometers north of the airport. The only person on board died.
The victim has been identified as 58-year-old Daniel Ubillos, a retired pilot from the Uruguayan Air Force. He was the founder and owner of the Green Airport and was a member of an aerobatic team. The crashed aircraft is a Rihn DR-109 with the registration CX-FLG, Uruguayan media outlet Subrayado reported.
Training for a private air show
The two aircraft were performing aerobatic maneuvers in preparation for a private air show scheduled for the following days in the department of Colonia. According to Javier Duran, a member of the team, contact between the two aircraft was observed before the crash.
“This is a sad incident for an aerobatic team that was recently formed,“ Duran said.An eyewitness from the nearby town of San Luis filmed the planes just before the collision. The woman who made the video told Subrayado that the planes were flying very close to each other, and smoke was visible from one of them.
Investigation continues
The exact cause of the collision has not been established. Police, firefighters and technical teams from the Uruguayan Air Force worked at the scene. The Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board is conducting an inspection and expert assessments to clarify the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The investigation was launched by order of the prosecutor's office in Atlántida. There is still no official data on whether a technical malfunction or another factor related to the maneuvers being performed contributed to the incident.
Former pilot Diego López de Aro commented that flying in pairs requires special training and carries a higher risk than solo acrobatic exercises. “The risk increases when I do acrobatics in pairs“, he told Subrayado.
Sources: underscoredo.com.uy, elpais.com.uy, aol.com