NewsWhore
03-16-2010, 08:00 PM
Six passengers left on a single-engine Cessna that departed from La Isabela International Airport (AILI at El Higuero), and not two as initially reported. The pilot had declared a flight plan to Haiti, but 40 nautical miles after departure the plane disappeared from the radar. Now investigators from the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), the National Drug Control Department and the Specialized Airport Security Force (CESA) and the Department of Migration say that the general declaration only identified the pilot and copilot. Investigators say that in the flight plan the six passengers were declared.
Diario Libre reports that the investigators questioned the workers that were hired to paint the new registration on the plane. The flight left the DR using the registration number of a plane that is in repair at a hangar at the airport. Diario Libre says that the work was not completed because the flight left with the old registry prepared for the paint job of the next day.
Outspoken news commentator, Mario Arvelo, upon hearing of the illegal flight asked: "Where were the Tucanos?" Two of the Brazilian jets purchased at a cost of US$8 million each by a loan taken on by the Dominican government to pursue illegal flight operations have been in the DR for weeks now.
There is speculation that the plane flew to Brazil, where there is no extradition to the Dominican Republic.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
Diario Libre reports that the investigators questioned the workers that were hired to paint the new registration on the plane. The flight left the DR using the registration number of a plane that is in repair at a hangar at the airport. Diario Libre says that the work was not completed because the flight left with the old registry prepared for the paint job of the next day.
Outspoken news commentator, Mario Arvelo, upon hearing of the illegal flight asked: "Where were the Tucanos?" Two of the Brazilian jets purchased at a cost of US$8 million each by a loan taken on by the Dominican government to pursue illegal flight operations have been in the DR for weeks now.
There is speculation that the plane flew to Brazil, where there is no extradition to the Dominican Republic.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)