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So, there it is: the pilot, Major Radford Baizer became disoriented - made a right turn and went right into the lagoon - which was only 5 feet deep.

A terrible end - but there are still many more questions than answers.

Today, Minister of National Security Mike Peyrefitte presented the local report with the timeline and the chain of command that led to the doomed mission:

Hon. Micheal Peyrefitte- Minister of National Security 

“On February 27th, 2020 at around 1:38 am the joint intelligence and operations center JIOC which is a combination of BDF, Coast Guard, and Police made a request of Brig. Gen. Ortega of which Brig. Gen. Ortega conditionally approved for a helicopter to assist in the operation that led to the seizure of a drug plane a few hours later. At around 1:45 seven minutes after that JIOC calls Major Ramirez and tells him to get ready for a mission as Brig. Gen. Ortega conditionally approved a mission for him to deploy a helicopter to assist the JIOC with an operation at around 2:12 am Major Ramirez texted Brig. Gen. Ortega asking him if the mission is a go. At 2:18a.m. Brig. Gen. Ortega calls JIOC to get a briefing on the mission and repeats his conditional approval. He explains to JIOC that it will be up to Major Ramirez to finally determine if they can fly the Helicopter based on the weather and other factors. At 2:22 a.m. Brig. Gen. Ortega calls Major Ramirez and tells him that the mission is a go provided that he Major Ramirez is satisfied that the proper conditions exist in order to safely fly and that in his, Brig. Gen. Ortega’s, view the weather will not clear up until about 5 a.m. At about 3:17 a.m. Major Ramirez texted Brig. Gen. Ortega and said Sir, weather hold up, will depart. It is important to note at this point that at various times before February 27th, 2020 JIOC and Brig. Gen. Ortega had requested air assistance from Major Ramirez and he refused to command a mission because of unfavorable conditions. This was never treated as insubordination as it is accepted that when it comes to flights the Airwing has the final say. It is also important to note at this point that once Major Ramirez, as the commander of the Airwing, had decided to accept the mission then he is the one with the total discretion to pick the pilots and crew as was the case here. At around 3:54 a.m. Major Ramirez signs out on the helicopter and crew and by around 4:07a.m. the helicopter lifted off from the Williamson base Phillip Goldson International Airport area once the helicopter lifted off then as per protocol major Ramirez communicated directly with JIOC, who were the ones spearheading the mission. At 4:18 a.m. Major Ramirez messages JIOC and says, here, a series of messages are then exchanged between Major Ramirez and JIOc which I cannot reveal for the purposes of National Security and the Security of future Operations. Major Ramirez messaged Major Velez of JIOC at around 4:33 a.m. and then Major Velez responded at around 4:38 a.m. saying “Great help, ‘bredrin,’ thanks.” At this point, the specific purpose of the helicopter in the mission had been served and it was expected that the helicopter would return to base. That last text that Major Velez sends to Major Ramirez that says, “Great help, ‘Bredrin’, thanks” only had one tick indicating that in normal circumstances Major Ramirez did not receive that WhatsApp message.”