Leonardo Barone, the presidential pilot author of the controversial welcome maneuver of the new Tango 01 that made headlines last week, broke the silence and justified the low-level flight by stating that it was "authorized" and that "there was no crime." But at the same time he admitted that perhaps "it was not the political moment to do it".
"Everything was done with authorization. I don't do anything without it. The last one is absolutely legal. There are videos, it's all documented. We were bringing a plane to the national fleet and it is a controlled maneuver, which is zero danger. We understood that it was the welcome I had to have," Barone told La Nación newspaper from China, where he is part of the delegation accompanying Sergio Massa.
"We were alone, empty, on top of a track. Nothing was done elsewhere. The impact it had was negative, misinforming people. That in terms of communication; In terms of aviation, no one did anything out of the ordinary. 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 demonstrable. Where is the crime?" he asked during the interview.
The maneuver in question was a low-level flight executed on May 25, when the brand new Boeing 757 aircraft that joined the presidential fleet made its arrival in the country from the factory in the United States. Barone, Secretary General of Logistics of the General Secretariat of the Presidency and responsible for the fleet, was the one who piloted the plane.
Specialists spoke of "negligence", mainly due to adverse weather conditions and the timing of high air traffic. It was in the middle of the holiday, in Aeroparque, with tourist flights returning to the whole country, strong winds and high cloudiness.
"There were four planes waiting to leave and another three waiting to descend on runway 3 1 when the presidential plane wanted to make its pass in the opposite direction. That surprised the tower, which in the end gave him permission. The problem is that because of that unnecessary lap it took, the new Tango 01 complicated all Aeroparque operations: the other flights that were on the ground waiting and those that had to continue in the air burning fuel," a pilot explained to Clarín.
"In professional terms, everything that needed to be done was done; In political terms it was not the time. Do not evaluate that situation. We came happy, with the new plane on a national date, "said Barone.
The pilot also took the opportunity to respond to criticism and defend his management in command of the presidential fleet. "When I arrived there were no helicopters or planes flying. Of three helicopters, only one was in a poor state. This is how people flew in Argentina. That's how they took presidents. There were three planes in the fleet, none flying. It's all documented. There was no politics, but then those people are the ones who come out and speak," he said.
In the same vein, Jorge Polanco, a former Aerolineas Argentinas pilot, came out to cross, who had criticized his actions on the grounds that he could have caused "a tragedy."
"When we started in 2019, the ICAO (aeronautical body that depends on the United Nations) did not want to work with Argentina because of what Polanco had done. It's all documented. He went out to buy two Challenges 601 of 81, which were two gadgets, at US $ 19.4 million, which are 600 thousand dollars on the market, and everything was unfinished and with issues that had to be paid. He comes out to say what he says. The media gives him air and he is a liar," he said.
"The previous management 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 not buying anything, "he defended.
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