AP News, January 26th, 2007
Ecuador's president said Thursday he had ordered an investigation into the collision of two army helicopters that killed the country's first female defense minister, her daughter and five military officers.
"It appears to have been an unfortunate accident but so that there is no doubt" the government has formed a special commission to oversee the investigation, President Rafael Correa told reporters in the port city of Manta.
Correa was speaking at an army base near the site of Wednesday's crash that shook the government just 10 days after the president was inaugurated.
Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva, 50, and her 17-year-old daughter Claudia Avila were killed when two helicopters collided during maneuvers to mark the 53rd anniversary of military aviation in Ecuador at base near Manta. A colonel, three captains and a lieutenant also died in the crash.
In a televised interview, Vice President Lenin Moreno said the helicopters were performing a night flight test "and in a bad maneuver, it appears that the blades collided and the helicopters fell to the ground."
Larriva was Ecuador's first female defense chief and the first to have never served in the military.
The investigating commission will include outside experts from the makers of the French-designed Gazelle helicopters involved the crash.
The United States offered to assist in the investigation as messages of condolences poured in from countries around the region. U.S. Embassy spokesman Aaron Sherinian expressed "heartfelt sorrow to Ecuadorean friends for this tragic, sad situation."
Argentine President Nestor Kirchner sent a note expressing solidarity with Ecuador and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe talked by phone with Correa.
In a short statement aired on Canal 1, Correa told "the Ecuadorean people to pray for Guadalupe, her daughter, the pilots, for her family members, for the government of Ecuador."
No replacement for the minister was immediately named.
Correa appointed seven women to his 17-member Cabinet, saying he wanted to promote gender equality in his South American nation.
Larriva shook off concerns about resistance from the military. Before taking office, the then-Socialist Party president said she expected more "curiosity" than animosity from Ecuador's military brass "over whether a woman can lead in this role."
A teacher by vocation, Larriva rose through her party's ranks and served in congress.
She is survived by a daughter and son. Her husband Rodrigo Avila died eight years ago.
