Three people were killed Monday September 19 when a helicopter crashed about 25 kilometers east of Granada in Spain. The Bell 412 helicopter was flying from its company’s base in Palma del Río, Córdoba province, to the Infoca fire fighting base in Alhama de Granada. It was due to temporarily replace another helicopter which is normally based there while it was being serviced.

The helicopter was operated by the FAASA company. Here is an excerpt from a February 23, 2010 article in Vertical magazine about the company:

FAASA Group Takes Delivery Of Four AW119Ke Helicopters

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 – AgustaWestland

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica Company, is pleased to announce that FAASA Group of Spain has taken delivery of an additional four AW119Ke single engine helicopters for fire-fighting missions. The handover brings the number of AW119Kes in service with this operator to twenty units making FAASA Group one of the largest operators of this model in the world. Two of these aircrafts will be operated by Heliduero.

FAASA Group operates throughout Spain, particularly in the Castilla-La Mancha, Andalucia and Castilla y Leon regions. The operator provided a major contribution to the 2009 fire-fighting season in Spain deploying up to sixteen AW119 helicopters.

Our condolences to the families and coworkers.

Thanks go out to Chuck