An Air Force helicopter, piloted by Lieutenant Francisco Jimenez Polanco and with two unnamed passengers on board, was forced to make an emergency landing in the southwestern province of Azua yesterday, Wednesday 25 November 2015. The helicopter landed on Km. 15 of the Azua-Bani highway, in front of Cemento Santo Domingo, the company that belongs to the Abinader Corona family that coincidentally has been very much in the news after the Ministry of Energy and Mines denied the company a mining permit despite the fact that it has been operating in the area for many years. The Ministry said that the company had been mining the limestone deposits using an exploration permit issued years ago. When the company sought to regularize its status, the permission was denied because it falls within a protected area.