Pilot dies in plane crash at Costa del Sol airfield

There has been a new fatal accident at the Leoni Benabú aerodrome in the Axarquía, located in El Trapiche, Velez-Málaga. A pilot died at midday this Saturday afternooon when the light aircraft he was flying crashed on the eastern strip of the Costa del Sol, for reasons that are being investigated. The victim was Oliver Frutos, a 49 year old pilot from Granada, a well-known aerobatic pilot and instructor at the Real Aeroclub de Málaga.

Frutos took off from the Leoni Benabú aerodrome and crashed soon afterwards in the area near the Benamargosa river, not far from the aerodrome runway, while taking part in an aerobatic exhibition to mark the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, patron saint of aviation. After a religious mass, a parachuting and aerobatic flying exhibition was scheduled to take place, in which the deceased was taking part. Some of the pilot's family were at the event at the time of the incident.

At around 12.30pm, 112 Andalucía was alerted and mobilised the emergency services including the National Police, Local Police, Guardia Civil, Civil Protection volunteers as well as the national air traffic control centre. Firefighters were involved in the recovery of the body in an area of difficult access and Spain's state aviation safety agency (AESA) is already investigating the cause of the fatal accident.

This is not the first accident this year, but it is the first fatal one. At the end of June, the pilot walked away uninjured after crashing near the Leoni Benabú airfield in El Trapiche. The pilot was able to get out of the wrecked aircraft by his own means.

The last fatal accident happened in November 2021 , when one person died and another was injured after a private light aircraft crashed on an avocado farm near the Axarquia aerodrome. Including this Saturday's incident, since 2003 there have been around twenty serious accidents in the vicinity of the El Trapiche de Vélez-Málaga aerodrome, with 15 deaths and 15 injuries of varying degrees of severity.

The most serious incident happened in 2003, a year in which there were three light aircraft accidents, with four fatalities, including a minor, a flight instructor, his brother and his wife.

In May 2021 SUR reported the complaints of local residents, who started a collection of signatures because of the «nuisance and danger» caused by the flights of light aircraft in the Axarquía.