Suspected Intentional Collision Killed Pilot On Impact

46-year-old pilot Juan Manuel Medina crashed a rented Cessna 150 into his former workplace. Authorities are still investigating, but their main theory is that the accident was intentional.

Medina had been working for Air Liquide, a company that supplies oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen to medical facilities, since June 2023. He served as a warehouse worker for their facilities in western Rosaria, Argentina until being let go last March. The company stated that this decision was made due to budget cuts.

On the morning of Friday, August 9, Medina shared two cryptic posts on social media app WhatsApp. The first was a picture of the nuclear mushroom cloud forming over Nagasaki, Japan during World War II. Then, he followed it up with a selfie, captioned  “to the big liars.”

Medina then traveled to Rosario Aeroclub at Islas Malvinas International Airport. Since he was a certified pilot with about 500 hours and a respected member of the club, no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. He rented his typical aircraft, a Cessna 150, and took off around 11:30 local time. Emergency services quickly arrived at the scene, and no additional casualties were reported.

Opinions about the accident vary among those who knew or worked with him. His former girlfriend called him a “very unpredictable person” in an interview with Telefe television. “He had a lot of experience,” a Rosario Aeroclub member told Clarín newspaper. “He had his psychophysical certificate, renewed annually, valid until April 2025. He complied with all the regulations of the club and ANAC.”

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. Many theories have been tossed around, but the most likely is that Medina deliberately crashed into his former workplace.

A bystander captured the moment of the crash on video, and it has since been uploaded on social media.

FMI: www.aeroclubrosario.com