Pilot arrested over Argentina 'death flights'

Juan Alberto Poch, a budget airline pilot, is accused of flying planes from which junta threw opponents into sea

Spanish police have arrested an Argentinian military pilot accused of taking part in "death flights" in which hundreds of opponents of his country's military junta were thrown from planes into the sea.

Juan Alberto Poch, 57, was arrested on Monday at the controls of a Dutch holiday jet he was about to fly from Valencia to Amsterdam.

Poch is wanted by the courts in Argentina to answer allegations that he flew navy aircraft on the death flights between 1976 and 1983.

Transavia, a low-cost airline owned by KLM and Air France, has confirmed it employed the pilot, who also has Dutch nationality.

Spanish police said they arrested Poch during a 40-minute turnaround for the plane he was flying for Transavia. The company had been warned the arrest was pending and another pilot was on hand to fly the plane.

"He [Poch] was a regular pilot on the flights from Schipol airport [in Amsterdam] to Valencia," Spanish police said. "The officers who arrested him at Valencia's Manises airport made sure there were minimal problems for the passengers, with another pilot already arranged in advance." More