There were three crew on board this Bell 412, which was on its way from Cordoba to an Infoca base in Alhama in the province of Almeria, where it would replace one that was undergoing extensive servicing.

As yet, the cause of the accident has not been made known, even though the black box has been recovered. The identities of the crew members have not been made public, either, in consideration of the next of kin.

The force of the impact, which caused a fire in the Barranco de la Farsaílla and took four infoca aircraft to put out, threw two crew members out of the aircraft, leaving one trapped inside – all three bodies were badly burnt.

The two, major, national worker’s unions, UGT and CCOO consider that it is more than likely that the cause of the accident involving an Augusta Bell 412 helicopter in the Barranco de la Farsaílla, near Quentar in Granada, was a mechanical failure.

Consequently, they are demanding that the servicing history of the crashed helicopter, in which three people died, be exhaustively investigated.

Manuela Martinez, who is the Secretary General for the Union General de Trabajadores, said that moments before the crash the helicopter was seen by Infoca workers on the ground, following a normal flight pattern. This, together with the 11-years’ flying experience of the helicopter pilot, and the debris distribution at the crash site, suggests that it was a low-speed impact, with no attempt to do an emergency landing and therefore, most likely, a mechanical failure.

On the other hand, the Spanish pilots association, Sepla, has denounced the incapability of the Ministerio de Fomento to reduce the number of helicopter accidents – including this latest accident. So far this year, 16 people have died as a result of helicopter crashes.

According to a report carried out by Sepla, 49 people have died in 81 accidents between the year 2,000 and 2010, giving an average of 4.4 deaths a year.

The Augusta Bell 412 belonged to the Cordoba aeronautical company, FAASA, which supplies the majority of the Infoca helicopters. Said company has so far declined to make any further comments on the accident, other than their original press communique, in which they pointed out that the aircraft had undergone two revisions; one on the 17th and one on the very day of the accident, just before the helicopter took off to begin its journey to Almeria.

However, this is not the first accident this year involving an aircraft belonging to this company, as in January two crew members were killed in one of a string of accidents in Chile, where FAASA also operates through a subsidiary company.

(News: Quentar, Granada, Andalucia)