Suspicion is growing that the 2018 helicopter crash that killed the former governor of Puebla and her husband was deliberately provoked, the national president of the National Action Party (PAN) said.

“Without a doubt suspicion is growing that someone provoked the death of Martha Erika Alonso and Rafael Moreno Valle,” Marko Cortés said yesterday after the release of a new federal government report on the accident.

The couple, a political aide and two pilots were all killed after the helicopter in which they were traveling plunged to the ground just outside the city of Puebla on December 24.

Alonso was sworn in as governor just 10 days before the crash. Her victory in last year’s gubernatorial election was disputed by the Morena party, which alleged electoral fraud.

The Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) said on Tuesday that it had found no evidence that the helicopter sustained a mechanical malfunction, a conclusion that echoed its finding in an investigation update published in June.

Cortés said the new report confirms what the PAN has been saying all along – “If there was good weather, the equipment didn’t fail and the pilots were experts, what happened then? Who was it?”  

The national president charged that “what’s needed is a serious, professional, conclusive investigation by the government,” claiming also that the administration led by President López Obrador “is hiding what happened” and hoping that the crash will be forgotten.

“It’s unfortunate that this government is not interested in finding out what happened,” he said.

“What’s needed is for the government to apply itself [so that] it can give us accurate information. Mexicans need to know the truth about what happened on December 24. The Secretariat of Public Administration [must] take action on the matter and open an investigation with respect to the conduct of the director of the civil aviation agency. That’s our most emphatic demand to the Morena party government . . .”  

Source: El Financiero (sp)