“We are trained to keep calm”: the pilot of the helicopter in which President Duque was traveling speaks

the president, Ivan Duque, suffered an attack on Friday June 25 after the Black Hawk helicopter in which it was transported was attacked on the ground with guns. The head of state flew over the Municipality of Sardinata to Cúcuta during its agenda to present the advances of the policy “Peace within the legality” in the chapter “Sustainable catatumbo”. All occupants, including the president, are unharmed.

Following these events, the Lieutenant-Colonel, Carlos Pérez, a pilot who was driving the attacked helicopter where the president was, gave some details of the attack via the Ministry of Defense social media: “We are trained to make decisions and stay calm. It is the product of the solid training that we have received during our military career, ”he explained.

It should be noted that the aircraft managed to receive six bullet holes, but it could land without major complications at Camilo Daza International Airport in Cúcuta. However, as Semana reported, the crew heard some noises coming from the engine when approaching the runway.

VIDEO | Here is the helicopter the President was traveling on:

Major General Fernando LosadaColombian Air Force (FAC) air operations commander said: “Our presidential pilots are instructors, they are test pilots and they are pilots with a lot of flying experience. UH-60 helicopters. […] These are the best we have in our degrees and the proof is that they reached earth safely”.

the Minister of Defense Diego MolanoAfter a Security Council with the Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacios, and the commanders and directors of the police force, he declared that he would offer “a reward of up to $ 3 billion for this person who gives information which makes it possible to find those responsible for this terrorist attack ”.

Then, a few hours after the events, the Director of the National Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas, stated that 1.2 kilometers From the top of the airport runway, two guns were found from which the shots were fired: “These rifles are a SI 47 with a registration number already sought by experts from the National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and a rifle caliber 7-62 type FAL with marks of Venezuelan Armed Forces”.

“Of the 20 percussion vanillas found on the scene 14 belong to the FAL rifle on a preliminary basis and 6 of them to the AK-47 rifle, according to preliminary experts from the police and the attorney general’s office, ”General Vargas added.

Reactions:

After learning about the attack, various sectors of the country, from the political to the economic, expressed their rejection. One of them was Senator from Colombia Humana, Gustavo Petro, via his Twitter account: “Whatever the distances between us, I reject the attack against the president. A democracy is that no one dies for their ideas”.

The mayor of Bogota, Claudia lopez, declared on his social networks: “It is an attack on the citizens, against the President and against our democracy that I strongly condemn and reject. We must take care of the radicalization and romance Colombia of all forms of violent aggression. #LaVidaEsSagrada #ColombiaSeRespeta ”.

For her part, the Senator of the Democratic Center, Maria del Rosario Guerra, also showed his rejection: “We cannot kneel in the face of terrorism, what there is is to fight it firmly. We surround President Iván Duque and our military forces and the national police in their fight against criminal sources ”.

“An attack against the President of the Republic is an attack against the person but also against democracy, institutions and the country, all democratic citizens, just as the international community must vehemently reject this act ”, were the words of the President of Andi, Bruce Mac Master, through the Internet.

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