Argos-III helicopter accident
MBB Bo 105 · Aviation accident
From Almería Airport, Spain to Almería Airport, Spain
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Government
MBB Bo 105
- Aircraft type
- MBB BO-105
- Category
- Helicopter · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- EC-DZG
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Almería Airport, SpainTo Almería Airport, Spain
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
On 15 December 1989, the Customs Surveillance Service helicopter "Argos-III" suffered an accident in the Alboran Sea, off the coast of Almería (Spain). Its two occupants, Alfonso Blanch and Asdrúbal Ferreiro Niño, died in the event.
Accident
The helicopter took off from Almería Airport on the afternoon of Friday, 15 December 1989. It was scheduled to carry out surveillance work in the Alboran Sea, between Málaga and Almería, for the Customs Surveillance Service. It was crewed by Alfonso Blanch, pilot; and Asdrúbal Ferreiro Niño, co-pilot. The aircraft, an MBB BO-105CB-4 model helicopter, with registration EC-DZG and with call sign "Argos-III".
After 4 hours had elapsed since takeoff, the maximum endurance of the aircraft, the flight mechanic, who was on the ground, reported its disappearance after being unable to contact the helicopter. The emergency plan was activated and a search operation was launched to locate it, centred off the coast of Almerimar.
The following morning, a fishing boat from Almería located and recovered the body of Asdrúbal Ferreiro Niño, aged 30, the co-pilot. The helicopter and the body of Alfonso Blanch were never found. Apparently, the helicopter had plunged abruptly into the sea some 20 minutes after takeoff, without giving the crew time to send a distress message or to abandon the aircraft.
At Punta Sabinar, a monolith commemorates the victims of the accident.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Spanish Wikipedia article “Accidente del helicóptero Argos-III” (revision 157571826, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
Spanish Wikipedia article: Accidente del helicóptero Argos-III
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 157571826 · 2024-01-23 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q115736527
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- es Wikipedia article "Accidente del helicóptero Argos-III" (page 10413981, revision 157571826), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A Customs Surveillance Service helicopter on a surveillance patrol: a state customs flight, which is government. The article: "It was scheduled to carry out surveillance work in the Alboran Sea, between Málaga and Almería, for the Customs Surveillance Service."
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Spanish Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.