The vehicle has been so damaged that they have not been able to identify it
A pilot of a firefighting plane died this Friday when the aircraft he was piloting crashed in the municipality of Castelo Melhor, in Vila Nova de Foz Coa, in the northeast of Portugal. “The death of the man has been decreed on the spot by the medical team of the helicopter of the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM),” said João Paulo Sousa, mayor of Vila Nova de Foz Coa, in statements collected by the Lusa agency. “The pilot’s body has been burned and the amphibian plane completely destroyed, the model cannot be identified, but everything indicates that he is a fire chief,” the mayor detailed.
Subsequently, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, confirmed the identity of the victim, also conveying condolences to the pilot’s family through a statement from the Presidency. “Commander André Serra will be remembered for his courage, bravery and dedication to service. To the bereaved relatives, friends and comrades of the Portuguese Air Force –branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces where he served–, the President of the Republic offers his deepest condolences, at this equally difficult time for all the operators of the Special Device for Extinguishing Rural Fires”, he expressed.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, has lamented pilot’s death in a message posted on the social network Twitter. “With great dismay I have learned of the death of the pilot who was flying an aircraft that crashed this afternoon in the fight against the fire in Torre de Moncorvo. I send my deepest condolences to family and friends,” Costa wrote.
Likewise, the president of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, has considered the death as “a huge loss” also through his personal Twitter account.