I have briefed the Prime Minister in detail on the helicopter situation in the area of the Garden Camp on 1 July and a decision has been taken to dismiss the Director General of the Directorate General ‘Civil Aviation Administration’. This was announced before journalists by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov. The reason is both the specific flight incident, which is against all the rules, and the reasons to believe that this is not an isolated incident, but rather a recurrence. ‘The company that made this flight had made similar overflights further back in time and not enough attention was paid to safety,’ the minister added.
‘We, as a government and I as a minister, cannot allow such situations and we need to work seriously on the controls that are applied to aviation security and safety. I have given enough tolerance to all employees in the system, so from now on anyone who commits an offence will be sanctioned’, Georgi Gvozdeykov was adamant.
He informed that an order is being prepared to check the aviation operator, the helicopter's documents and the pilot. ‘All the reasons that led to this must be established and if there are grounds, it is not ruled out to revoke the licence of both the operator and the pilot,’ the Minister of Transport further said.
‘Going forward, the goal is to improve the activity and control in civil aviation, as this is a risky sector and we cannot treat every single incident with negligence,’ Minister Gvozdeykov added.
