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 El Alto de Rubio in the north-western state of Táchira in Venezuela. All eighteen people aboard the aircraft were killed. The dead included Brigadier-General Domingo Faneite, two army pilots, fourteen other army personnel and one civilian, named as Cristian Velazquez.