We've heard of pilots being removed from their plane because they were drunk, but today's news is slightly more disturbing.
Pilot Juan Alberto Poch was about to fly back to Amsterdam when Spanish police removed him from his Transavia plane because of his involvement in the Argentine "dirty war" between 1976 and 1983.
An Argentine court had issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Poch, and he'll be deported so he can answer the allegations brought against him.
These allegations are quite horrible. As part of the dirty war, Mr. Poch flew "death flights". These flights were performed under the disguise of "prisoner transports", but in reality, the passengers were drugged, and dropped out of the plane plummeting to their death in the ocean. In total, up to 30,000 people disappeared, and many of them may have been killed when pushed out of one of these flights.
The airline had been informed of the arrest, and had prepared a backup pilot to minimize the inconvenience to its passengers. The pilot had been working for Transavia since 1988 and never raised any suspicions.
For those who have never heard of this, the Dirty War happened between 1976-1983 and was all about violence agence Argentine citizenry. The head honcho was Jorge Rafael Videla, mainly his military government. This all harkens back to the military coup against Juan Perón, although several reasons for it have been cited, including Isabel Martínez de Perón's ''annihilation decrees'' of 1975.
What this pilot did was more than horrible. I do not have words. Also, if anyone has more details about the Dirty War, more than the ones offered by Wikipedia, I would like to hear from you. Anyone cares to comment?
