Families of Deceased Soldiers Learn of Crash on Social Media

As you have heard, the families of the deceased soldiers have complained that the Belize Defence Force failed to notify them that the men had gone missing even though there are procedures that should be followed in such an event. The anti-drug operation occurred on Thursday morning and it was not until Friday, that the families learnt of the tragic helicopter crash. Retired Major Lloyd Jones says that the Force’s failure to follow procedures is total disrespect for the families.

Major Lloyd Jones (Ret’d)

Major Lloyd Jones (Ret’d)

“If the commander is unaware that the aircraft is missing you could understand why he would not say anything. But ordinarily the agitant who is currently like the administrative officer for the force would be the one, on the instruction of the commander, to reach out to the families and say look we can’t tell you exactly what happened but the aircraft left and we are looking for them. We don’t want to create alarm but we just want you in the loop. It would be interesting to find out how our brothers died because it is were by drowning then a lot of people will be drowning because it would mean that perhaps they survived the initial crash but were in the water without assistance and leading to their drowning. I think that also has to be a point of focus for the inquiry.”