Connection lost with civil aviation helicopter in SW Bulgaria

A search and rescue has been launched for a missing helicopter, with which connection was lost Friday, the involved institutions told BTA.

Connection was lost with a civil aviation helicopter used to spray against pests, the Southwest State Enteprise (SWSE) Blagoevgrad told BTA, explaining that this is a private helicopter hired by SWSE to spray against pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). 

There were media reports that the connection was lost near the southwestern village of Garmen, whose Mayor Feim Isa told BTA there is no information about a helicopter fallen on the territory of the Municipality. 

The Interior Ministry also told BTA that there is no information about a fallen helicopter. A helicopter took off at 07:30 in the morning and the connection with it was lost, but there is no information about a fallen helicopter, the National Board for Aircraft, Maritime and Railway Accident Investigation told BTA. 

A military Cougar helicopter has been dispatched to search for the private helicopter, reported missing near Garmen, the Defence Ministry said later on Friday. The Cougar took off at 2:01 pm from the Krumovo airbase. The Airforce personnel is joining the search operation as part of the national aviation accidents search and rescue plan. The request came from the Civil Aviation Administration Directorate General's search and rescue coordination centre, the Defence Ministry said. 

A search for a helicopter has been initiated, the head of the Blagoevrad Fire Safety and Civil Protection Regional Directorate, Commissioner Valentin Vassilev, told BTA. He said they have received such a report, which is being clarified. There is no confirmation that that a helicopter has fallen. The initial information is about a lost connection with the pilot, he said.  

The SWSE said that the helicopter landed in the village of Satovcha on September 18 and sprayed pesticides around Satovcha and Garmen the following day. On September 20, the aircraft sprayed near the village of Gega, after which it landed in Garmen, where the pilots spent the night in SWSE's building. The aircraft took off on Friday morning at around 7:30 am to return to its base in the southern city of Plovdiv. A few hours later the connection with the pilot was lost, SWSE said, adding that the helicopter was supposed to be in the southern village of Tsalapitsa.