Audio recording from helicopter crash revealed by Mexican government

Mexican governor Martha Erika Alonso and her senator husband Rafael Moreno Valle were killed on December 24 in a helicopter crash near the city of Puebla in central Mexico just days after she had taken office following a bitterly contested election.

Yesterday

, Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) informed that the contents of the flight recorder would not be revealed until the end of the present administration in five years’ time.

According to the Mexican newspaper Milenio , two requests were filed to obtain the recording of a conversation between the helicopter pilots and the Puebla International Airport control tower, both of which were denied.

The Ministry alleged that “said information was confidential for reasons of national security,” according to Milenio’s chief of information, Victor Hugo Michel , in an interview with journalist Azucena Uresti .

However, the head of the SCT, Javier Jiménez Espriú , said in an interview that there had been a misunderstanding and announced that the recordings of the flight would be revealed today.

The audio , which was revealed this morning at the National Palace in Mexico City , showed that there were 11 contact attempts from the control tower between 20:39 PM and 20:49 PM , to which the pilots of the XA-BON helicopter did not respond. Besides that, there was nothing suspicious about the recording.

The government body’s Assistant Secretary, Carlos Morán Moguel , indicated that a final report would be available by the end of the year and that it would likely reveal the cause of the crash.

He also revealed that the helicopter had taken to the air from a businessman’s private home and that neither the Mexican government nor foreign researchers had found signs of aggression against the aircraft.

However, the vehicle engine and rotors will be subject to a thorough analysis by U.S. and Canada investigators on March.

On June 2, an extraordinary election shall be held in Puebla, with electoral campaigns starting on March 31.

Progress in investigation of helicopter crash in Puebla

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