Search for helicopter wreckage on Douro River ends

Divers’ work on the Douro River in Lamego was considered complete on Tuesday after a helicopter recovered debris including a tail rotor considered important to the investigation into the cause of the disaster.

Northern Marine Police Commander Rui Silva Lampreia told reporters that following the progress made in recovering the wreckage, the search on the river where the plane crashed on Friday was considered complete.

On board at the time of the accident, which occurred in Samodaines, municipality of Lamego (Viseu), were five soldiers from the GNR Emergency Protection and Assistance Unit (UEPC), who died, and the pilot, the only survivor.

On Tuesday morning, the tail of the helicopter was removed from the river bed and transported by a vessel with a crane to the Lamego River dock and from there to the hangar of the Directorate for the Prevention and Investigation of Crime – Aviation and Rail Accidents (GPIAAF) at the Viseu airfield.

“We have removed various materials that belonged to the plane, including the tail. We have found that the tail is practically intact, has a rotor and therefore we have this element that will be important for the investigations that will be carried out,” stressed Silva Lamprea, who coordinated the relief and search operation in Douro.

Another item that was considered important has yet to be recovered, a tablet-sized navigation computer.

“While this is important for the investigation that needs to be carried out, we believe that at this point all the material that has been removed from the river bed will be sufficient to try to determine the causes that led to this tragic accident,” he said.

Due to the characteristics of this small computer, according to the commander, “finding it on the river bottom will not be very easy, since it has an irregular morphology and a lot of vegetation.”

“And we don’t know how this happened, it could have been completely destroyed,” he noted.

Silva Lampreya concluded that all the elements that could be recovered were extracted from the river.

“We conducted a very thorough inspection of the bottom, and all the components and debris that were there passed us by, were removed, and the set of debris, in principle, will be sufficient to establish the causes,” he emphasized.

The helicopter hit the river hard, causing the plane to break into two pieces. Part of the cockpit was restored on Saturday, and the tail was removed on Tuesday.

“This is evident even from the video that is being distributed on social networks. It is clearly evident that this was a consequence of violence, as some witnesses who witnessed the clash also said,” the commander said.

In this area of ​​the river, between Lamego and Peso da Regua (Vila Real), the movement of tourist and pleasure boats has returned to normal.

On Saturday, the body responsible for investigating the Douro River firefighting helicopter crash, the GPIAAF, said it had heard from the pilot and witnesses and had completed “the bulk of the field work phase.”

He also said he intended to publish a briefing note by the end of today explaining the initial findings and the path forward for further investigation.

The accident helicopter, an AS350 — Écureuil, was operated by HTA Helicópteros based in Loulé, Algarve, and the accident occurred while returning to the Armamar Aircraft Centre.