Compensating the Families of Four Deceased BDF Airmen

The Government of Belize, in compensating the families of four Belize Defense Force airmen who tragically lost their lives in a helicopter crash on February twenty-seventh, says it has made available ex gratia payments of one hundred thousand dollars each to the families of the deceased officers. The attorneys of at least two of those families have indicated to News Five that those payments are yet to be received. In the early hours of February twenty-seventh, a helicopter carrying B.D.F. majors Adran Ramirez,Radford Baizar and crew members corporals Yassir Mendez and Reynaldo Choc went down in an area within the Gales Point Lagoon. While the incident was determined to be the result of pilot error, Minister of National Security Michael Peyrefitte says that an internal investigation within the B.D.F. remains open.

Michael Peyrefitte, Minister of National Security

Michael Peyrefitte

“I think we made it very public that each family was given sort of like an ex gratia payment of a hundred thousand dollars or something to that effect, without admitting any fault by the government.  I think we have determined that it was pilot error that caused the crash.  Now there is an investigation going on as to the internal mechanism of the BDF in terms of dealing with the aircraft and that is about to be completed.”