They were found lifeless in the afternoon Matteo Pozzoli and Roberto Mazzone, the two pilots of the Canadair that yesterday, after impacting a rocky ridge of Mount Calcinera, crashed and exploded.
The news was confirmed by the Catania Public Prosecutor's Office, which opened an investigation with two branches: one on the plane crash, the other on the fire that broke out two days ago in the Linguaglossa area that the aircraft's crew was trying to put out. “Condolences for their passing” e “deepest closeness to families and colleagues' of the two pilots were expressed by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi.
The head of the Fire Department, Laura Lega, spoke of “deep pain” remembering Pozzoli and Mazzone, “professionals who lost their lives while carrying out a rescue operation in the service of citizens”. The head of Civil Protection, Fabrizio Curcio, has “the commitment and spirit of self-denial that has always distinguished the work of the crews of the State air fleet”.
The Canadair owned by the international company Babcock took off yesterday from Lamezia Terme and was on its third 'launch' onto the seawater fire, taken off the coast of Giarre. The last dramatic flight was filmed with a mobile phone by Forestry personnel who were on the hill in front of Mount Calcinera. The images show the plane flying at low altitude, hitting the mountain and falling.
The explosion of the Canadair left no escape for the two members of the crew. Mazzone was from Salerno, he was 62 years old, he was a first officer, he leaves a wife and two children. A flight instructor with a long experience, years ago - a friend says - he had prevented the plane he was piloting from crashing to the ground after a failure, killing children. He had managed to land on the seafront, unharmed, together with the student to whom he was giving lessons.
“He was a serious and very cautious person,” said Gennaro D'Alessio who shared over 30 years of volunteering with the victim in the Soccorso amico association. Pozzoli, the commander of Canadair 28, was from Lombardy. Originally from Erba, son of the former Northern League mayor of the town in the province of Como, had arrived at Bacock after years in the Air Force.
In 1997 he narrowly escaped death: while piloting a SIAI 208 he crashed on Mount Lupone, in the province of Latina. His colleague lost his life in the accident Maurizio Poggiali. Pozzoli was held responsible for the disaster and sentenced to one year and six months. The victim's brother, the actor, spoke about the accident Fabio Poggiali, who later committed suicide, wrote a theatrical monologue.
Pozzoli was also sentenced to pay damages to the State by the Court of Auditors. His brother, Simone Pozzoli, who was present at the scene of the tragedy in Lingfield, spoke of “rumors and absurd stories that are terrible,” hoping that “the truth comes out and what he did is recognized.”
“We are here, at the scene of the accident where my brother lost his life while putting out a fire that someone else had started – he told reporters – and my brother has been putting out fires for years and the mud machine has started which is simply shameful”.
La Prosecutor's Office of Catania tomorrow will assign the task of the autopsy on the remains of the two pilots. At a later time, the analysis of the black box, which was found, will be carried out for other investigations into the causes of the impact.
The pilot from Salerno landed with a Cessna on the seafront
“He could have landed on the little beach of Santa Teresa, but he didn’t because they were playing football. In order not to cause problems, he managed to land on the seafront. He was very smart, very good, an extraordinary professional”. The President of Friendly Help of Salerno, Pippo Satriano, thus recalls Roberto Mazzone, pilot of the Canadair missing in Sicily.
“Roberto has been a volunteer for the association for 45 years, he has always been with us – adds – a very busy person, who worked in the ambulance and helicopter when we had it.”
Among other things, he was also the head of the civil protection sector department of the association. Person “extremely rigorous and professional, very available to everyone, with extreme discretion and with great professionalism and humility. Truly, a gentleman”. “I heard from him a few days ago. I called him – Remember Satriano – he had been out for a while and told me he would be back at the end of October and wanted to be reinstated to do shifts”.
A man with a lot of cold blood and a great deal of experience, serious, silent, reserved and composed who had made his passion his job. So Gennaro D'Alessio, a retired banker from Salerno, describes his friend Roberto Mazzone, pilot of the Canadair that crashed yesterday in the Catania area.
The two met as kids, both were volunteers for an association that runs an ambulance service in Salerno: “Soccorso Amico”. “Since then we have always remained in contact – he says – Both of us, even as adults, have continued to work as volunteers in our association”. Mazzone was a flight instructor. “In Salerno he was very well known and appreciated”, the friend says. The victim leaves the wife, magistrate, and two children.
Article published on 28 October 2022 - 21:25
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