2023-06-04 15:20:45
Leonard Baron, The pilot of the presidential plane ARG-01, rejected the criticism he received for the low-altitude flyover over Aeroparque that he made with the 757 upon arrival in the country, noting that it was “a controlled maneuver, with zero danger,” although he acknowledged that it was worth the Government a headache and that “in political terms it was not the time” for that overflight. The video immediately reached the networks and generated wide controversy, among those who questioned this “welcome maneuver”, and there were many aeronautical specialists who questioned it, among others the renowned Enrique Piñeyro.
“We brought a plane to the national fleet and it is a controlled maneuver, which is of zero danger. We understood that it was the welcome it had to have”, indicated Barone from China, where he flew the presidential plane with the delegation led by Sergio Massa and Máximo Kirchner. “That maneuver is common when an aircraft joins a fleet or when a commander retires,” Barone repeated.
For this low flight, a summary was opened in the ANAC once morest Barone and once morest John Paul Pintothe other pilot of the aircraft, which will also be processed before the Treasury Attorney General to determine how the actions of both were. “Everything was done with authorization. I do nothing without it. The pass is absolutely legal. There are videos, everything is documented,” stressed, Barone said in statements published by the The Nation newspaper.
“We were alone, empty, on top of a track. Nothing was done elsewhere. The repercussion it had was negative, misinforming people,” complained Barone, who is head of the General Directorate of Logistics of the Undersecretary of Planning and Services.
“That in terms of communication; in terms of aviation, nobody did anything that was not allowed. There were no incidents. There was nothing. There were videos and with that they came out to destroy us. There is the flight profile, authorization was requested, it is all public. Everything is provable. Where is the crime?”he stressed.
Barone insisted that they were authorized “even by the Argentine Air Navigation Company (EANA)” and revealed that they found out regarding the repercussion that the event had when they had already arrived at their homes and saw the television reports, in what they consider to be another sign that the problem was not at the aeronautical level “but media and political”.
“I have 4,000 flight hours. With that and all the qualifications left over to fly an airplane. In aviation, it does not go through the number of flight hours, it is one more piece of information. I did not buy the license. I have a license for each type of airplane. What else do I need? It’s ridiculous. I have zero accidents and zero incidents. I’ve flown all over the world. I’m fit.” Indian.
Regarding the aerial maneuver, Barone maintained that “in professional terms, everything that had to be done was done”, although he admitted that “In political terms it was not the time.”
“I didn’t assess that situation (the political impact). We came happy, with the new plane on a national date”, Baron said.
Barone harshly criticized the former Aerolíneas Argentinas pilot Jorge Polancowho considered that the maneuver “It might have generated a tragedy.”
“When we started in 2019, the ICAO (aeronautical entity that depends on the United Nations) did not want to work with Argentina because of what Polanco had done. Everything is documented. He went out to buy two Challenges 601 from 81, which were two junk, in 19, 4 million dollars, which are 600 thousand dollars on the market, and everything was left unfinished and with issues that had to be paid for. He goes out to say what he says. The media give him air and he is a liar,” said Barone, who arrived to Casa Rosada in December 2019.
With Alberto Fernández already in office as president, Barone was appointed in the direction from which the air resources are coordinated, which concentrates everything related to contracting in the sector and the maintenance of the presidential fleet. He even began to fly some of the fleet’s aircraft as well.
“When I arrived there were neither helicopters nor planes that flew. Of three helicopters, only one was running, in a very poor state. That’s how people flew in Argentina. That’s how they took the presidents. There were three planes in the fleet, none of them were flying. It’s all documented. There was no politics, but then those people are the ones who come out and talk”the aviator pointed out.
He also criticized, in air mattersto the management of Mauricio Macri: “The previous management he did nothing to have a fleet. They let a 757 expire to go buy a 737 for 60 million dollars, much lower than this (for the 757) and ended up buying nothing.”
The acquisition of the new aircraft finally took place in 2022 through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), following delivery of its predecessor as part of payment.
“He went out looking for another 757. It’s big, comfortable, the Presidency has its own workshop and trained personnel to fix it”Baron stated from China, where he led the delegation headed by the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa and the national deputy Máximo Kirchner.
“People who come out and criticize is because they don’t know the industry. No company takes Aerolíneas Argentinas (which has a 737 workshop) to fix it because they are looking for price and availability,” said the pilot, referring to the flag carrier’s workshops.
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