Statements by President of the Government during visit to Gran Canaria

Telde

President of the Government.- A very good day and thank you very much for being here with us.

I arrived here, in Gran Canaria, late last night and the main aims of this visit are twofold: firstly, to be at Gando Air Base with the families of the three Spanish servicemen who have regrettably died in the accident that you are all aware of; I was also interested in seeing the damage caused as a result of the recent storms here, in Telde, which has probably been the worst hit local authority in the whole of the Canary Islands. I thank the mayor for being here with us.

I was accompanied in Gando by the President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands and by the Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, who is also here, and by the Government Representative here. I was also accompanied by the Minister for Defence who, as you know, has spent more than a week here with the servicemen and with the families of the three victims. I received updated information on the events as they unfolded and on the work that has been carried out by our military personnel.

I would like to make two or three comments. Firstly, I have been with the families who have undoubtedly gone through a very tough situation; very tough indeed, firstly, because it is always tough, it is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, to endure the death of a family member, the death of a child or of a brother or sister or a colleague. This is truly tough; but furthermore, these have been particularly complicated days because, first of all, they became aware that an accident had taken place; then, there were all sorts of rumours on the situation and on where these servicemen might be and then, in the end, we finally became aware that they had indeed passed away. I have been with them and they are truly heartbroken, as you would expect, but they gave signs of great fortitude, which is something truly comforting.

I have also been with the servicemen of the Air Force who are here, in Gando. The colleagues of these three people who have died have made a great effort, they do a great job and I believe that, fortunately, this great work is being increasingly acknowledged. These are people who dedicate their lives to saving people in plane accidents and also in accidents at sea. I have thanked them for their work, for their efforts and for their dedication; I have encouraged them and said to them that they have not only the Government of Spain behind them, but also the vast majority of the people of Spain, who are people who highly rate what they do and are well aware of the difficulties of their work. Of course they are sad and grieving because they will not see three of their colleagues again.

I also want to say to you, because it is only fair, that we must value the aid provided by Morocco. This was conveyed to me by the general who headed up the operations, and reiterated by many of the military personnel who have taken part in recent days in search and rescue operations. They have felt this aid and felt supported by the Moroccan servicemen and I can tell you that on many occasions they have said this in the time I have been able to spend with them.

I also want to say to you that, as you are aware, two of the three bodies have been brought up. Work is being done at this time to bring up the third body. I can't say anything else. Let's hope they can manage to do this. What is the plan? If this happens today, they will be brought here, and the vessel would take some 18 to 20 hours - we were told - and they would be taken to the Institute of Forensic Anatomy, the bodies would then be laid to rest in Gando followed by their funeral, but I cannot give you any more information because I don't have it.

So, this is, in essence, what I have done at Gando Air Base. I would like to reiterate my gratitude and the support of the Government of Spain and of the people of Spain to our Armed Forces, in this case to the Air Force, and also to the Navy, to the divers that are still working in truly complicated circumstances, because the meteorological conditions are very tough at the place where the helicopter went down.

Secondly, I also wanted to take this opportunity, of being here, in Telde, where significant damage to public infrastructures, and also to the private property of citizens and neighbours of Telde has been caused, as in other points of the Canary Islands, as a result of the meteorological phenomena in recent days.

Yesterday we approved a Royal Decree Law at the Council of Ministers in Madrid and what we want to do now is to act as swiftly as possible. We will undertake the necessary works that correspond to the government as national infrastructures and we will help the local authorities pursuant to the terms of this Royal Decree Law. What is important is that we are able to do this expediently. The mayor handed me a hefty dossier on the damage caused within this local authority and we will try to provide a response as soon as possible.

I am available to take any questions now.

Q.- President of the Government, one of the parents of the deceased complained last year because he said that the material they were using was obsolete. Do you have anything to say in this respect?

President of the Government.- No-one has said anything to me. This has been an absolutely cordial meeting, and what is important now is to find out the causes of the accident. That will fall to the judge to decide who, logically, will ask for the expert reports that he or she considers opportune and appropriate, and, as always when an event of these characteristics takes place, an accident such as this, it is fundamental to discover the underlying causes so that we can avoid another accident of this nature taking place again in the future, if there really has been some reason of a technical nature that requires us to take some form of decision also of a technical nature. But, I insist, this is in the hands of the judge and I am absolutely convinced that, as always happens, we will eventually find out what happened.

Q.- President of the Government, there was talk initially of a Dutch vessel that could have had a cabin wired in some manner and other information that was a little contradictory. I don't know whether you have been able to make an assessment in this regard of the confusion caused by the information available in the first 24 hours.

President of the Government.- Yes. I believe that it no longer makes any sense, because there was all sorts of information and all sorts of hypotheses. In the end, we know what took place and unfortunately what took place is the worst thing that could happen: three people lost their lives. But this issue I fear now makes little sense. What most concerns me now is that the families can be comforted, that people acknowledge the major efforts and the huge job undertaken by the servicemen of the Air Force and the Navy, and that the investigation, which is now in the hands of the judiciary, can help us discover as soon as possible what took place to try to avoid these things reoccurring in the future.

Q.- President of the Government, two accidents to two Super Puma helicopters in little over a year with seven deaths in helicopter crashes in the Canary Islands. Will this or could this lead to some type of measures being taken, some type of revision in the regard?

President of the Government.- I asked myself the very same question this morning because, it is true, there have been two accidents. What I have been told is that this accident that we are talking about here today has absolutely nothing to do with the previous accident, which took place between Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

Another of the reports passed on to me by the chiefs at Gando Air Base is that Spain is truly below the European average and the NATO average in terms of accidents to military aircraft. That is a statistic, and the statistic would be truly great if there was no accident to any military aircraft, whether in Spain, or in any other country in the European Union, or indeed to any NATO member.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming here. Thank you.