Sebastián Piñera
, former president of Chile,
died
this Tuesday after
the helicopter
in which he was traveling fell in the commune of Lago Ranco, in the Los Ríos region, located in the south of the country.
But
it is not the first time that it was in the news due to air problems.
While grief invades the world due to the tragic death in a plane crash, and condolences multiply, some news and background information that marked Piñera's public life came to mind.
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (thus his full name)
was
74 years old and was a Chilean commercial engineer and businessman, who was president of the Republic of Chile in two non-consecutive periods between
2010-2014 and 2018-2022.
Sebastián Piñera and an episode with his helicopter in 2011
Back on
January 22, 2011
, during his term as president of Chile Piñera made an
emergency landing due to lack of fuel
with his Robinson 44 helicopter.
It was in the middle of a regional highway in the town of Quilicura Bajo, around Curanipe, in Region VII, about 300 kilometers south of Santiago.
Sebastián Piñera and his friend, businessman Andrés Navarro, were traveling on the rotating aircraft.
According to the filmed images that were released, the president
asked where he was
and made a phone call to get gasoline.
The episode brought criticism from many media outlets about the president's trips, which had to be with the
corresponding security measures and whether the fuel was public or not.
Sebastián Pinera was president of the Republic of Chile in two non-consecutive periods between 2010-2014 and 2018-2022.
Photo: AP
After such repercussions, the head of state said: "On vacation you do the things you like."
And he added: I know that some get upset, but we do them with respect, responsibility, seriousness and, therefore, one should not change one's way of being," the media of that time reflected.
"People know that I work intensely, 15 or 16 hours a day, but when I am on vacation I have the right to play sports, be with my family and have readings," he said.
And he concluded forcefully with his sights set on critical journalism: "They are not worried about the President. I would say that
they are worried about bothering the President
. But, in the end, that's life," Piñera concluded, according to
La Tercera.
Piñera's emergency landing in a helicopter on a soccer field
The antecedents back in time show that the president avoided committing to follow certain advice, and in practice he continued with activities that he carried out before becoming ruler,
El Mundo mentioned.
Piñera was twice president of Chile and died when his helicopter fell this Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
According to the newspaper La Tercera, the then president said privately that he had to
"accumulate hours"
to renew his helicopter driver's license.
To do this, he needed to demonstrate that during a year he has completed 12 or more hours of flight.
And history precisely marks another aerial episode beforehand.
In
January 2007,
Sebastián Piñera had to
pay a fine for landing his aerial vehicle on the field of the
Quellón municipal stadium, in the Chiloé archipelago, just as a sporting activity was beginning.
But there is more, according to what was reported about what happened in 2008: he landed in the middle of the main field of the
Monumental stadium, where the Colo-Colo team
was training.