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The 1981 Panamanian Air Force Twin Otter crash occurred on July 31, 1981, when a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter of the Panamanian Air Force, with identity code FAP-205, crashed at Marta Hill, in the community of Coclesito, in adverse weather conditions while on its final approach to the airport. All seven people on board, including General Omar Torrijos Herrera, who led the country's military dictatorship between 1969 and 1981, were killed. The investigation into the crash was surrounded by controversy and speculation about the circumstances of how the aircraft crashed. The crash occurred shortly after Ronald Reagan assumed office as President of the United States and three months after Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera died in similar circumstances. The cause of the crash remains disputed. ==The story== At 10:44 a.m. on July 31, 1981, FAP-205 took off from the Rio Hato air base, headed for Coclesito airport, to visit the people who were living there. At the controls were captain Azael Adames and sub-lieutenant Victor Rangel as co-pilot. The passengers on the flight were General Omar Torrijos Herrera, mechanic Carlos E. Rivera, Sergeant Ricardo Machazek, bodyguards' assistant Jaime Correa, and dentist Teresa Ferreiro. The plane landed at Penonomé Airport at 10:55 a.m. for a stopover, which ended at 11:40 a.m. At that time, the flight was only 15 minutes from its final destination. There is much controversy about how the plane crashed. It is known that the plane attempted to land at Coclesito in very bad weather, and it disappeared from radar between 11:55 a.m. and 12:05 p.m., but ATC did not declare an emergency for nearly a day, because of the limited nature of Panama's radar coverage at the time. The government knew about the plane's disappearance, but remained silent until the rescue mission was organized. But on August 1, the media began to report the disappearance of the plane and the government was forced to declare the physical disappearance of Torrijos. At 11:30 p.m. of the same day, Panamanian authorities, with the support of the US military, found the first remains of the aircraft on Marta Hill, 3,100 feet above sea level, but there was little to make because all the seven people on board, including Torrijos, were killed. The plane, but the tail section, was disintegrated by the impact against the mountains The news about Torrijos' death caused a crisis in the military dictatorship and nationwide mourning in Panama, especially by the impoverished, because Torrijos' actions and popular reforms gave relatively more opportunities and advantages to them. On August 4, a state funeral was held for him in the Casco Viejo Metropolitan Cathedral. He was buried in Casco Viejo for a brief time, but later transferred to a mausoleum in the Canal Zone at Fort Amador, near Panama City. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1981 Panamanian Air Force Twin Otter crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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