Air Force helicopter crash survivors missing again as rescue boat disappears from the radar

THREE Spanish soldiers who survived a helicopter crash into the sea off the coast of southern Morocco en route back to base in Gran Canaria have gone missing again.

Moroccan authorities rescued them, alive and well, by boat – but since then, nobody has been able to contact the crew.

Foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo and defence minister Pedro Morenés (pictured) have admitted they have no idea where the helicopter crash survivors are and that they have been unable to reach the craft by radio.

They should have reached the port of Dakhla, in Morocco, yesterday afternoon – and they were travelling in a fishing boat rather than an official coastguard rescue vessel.

Poor sea conditions may be responsible for communication channels being cut off.

Spanish Armed Forces deep-sea divers, a coastguard rescue boat with underwater search facilities, and several boats, planes and helicopters have been sent out by Spain's government, which is working closely with the Moroccan Royal Navy.

Aircraft include a CN235 plane and a Super Puma helicopter, like the one which crashed on Thursday with a sergeant, a captain and a lieutenant on board.

Sources from the ministry of defence say the Moroccan fishing boat 'has not arrived' back in the north African country, 'nor anywhere else', and that there is no communication via radio.

According to the ministry, either the fishing boat is 'taking its time' in returning to Morocco because 'the rescue had not entered their plans' when the crew had set out or, if they are in fact still en route, communications may be 'interrupted' as a result of bad weather and choppy seas, which could also be holding them up out in the Atlantic.

Spain's defence team says that in principle it is not worried, but rather baffled by the situation.

The Spanish Air Force helicopter disappeared out in the Atlantic at 14.05hrs on Thursday, some 280 miles away from the Gando air base in Gran Canaria and 40 miles south-west of Dakhla, as its three crew were returning from a rescue simulation training exercise in Sénégal.

Their aircraft is now 40 metres under the sea, but captain José Morales Rodríguez from Barcelona – married with one child – lieutenant Saúl López Quesada from Madrid and sergeant Johnander Ojeda Alemán, who lives with his partner in Gran Canaria, were found alive and unscathed.

All three are highly experienced search and rescue service members, according to their colleagues.

In fact, Johnander Ojeda Alemán suffered another helicopter crash last year, when he was the only survivor.