The Táchira helicopter crash was the loss of a Venezuela Army helicopter and its 18 occupants on 3 May 2009. The helicopter crashed at around midday local time (16.30 UTC) near in the north-western state of Táchira in Venezuela. All eighteen people aboard the aircraft were killed. The dead included one Brigadier-General, two army pilots, fourteen other army personnel and one civilian. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who was a retired army Lieutenant-Colonel, announced the incident in his weekly television broadcast and said "I pay tribute to these soldiers of the homeland, especially Gen Faneite, who was my cadet".