The Aircraft Owners Associa-tion of Guyana (AOAG) says that with the hiring of an under-qualified person as a flight operations inspector (FOI), the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has not only put its credibility and reputation on the international scene at stake, but the safety of the planes and passengers at risk.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, AOAG Official Anthony Mekdeci said they could not have a situation where senior pilots were exposed to this person who was not qualified.
He said the industry would be putting the insurance and the safety of its planes and passengers at risk if it accepted the appointment of the FOI, which compromises the insurance of the aircraft and the safety of the passengers.
“It has reached a stage where international intervention is needed,” he said. He added that an international agency needed to come to Guyana and carry out an investigation into the situation to determine whether or not international conventions and regulations were being breached.
According to the AOAG, it has always been its policy to have an FOI so that it could be in conformity with civil aviation regulations, since Guyana is a signatory of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The Association has for a number of months been bemoaning the fact that the GCAA is without the services of qualified flight operations oversight capabilities. The AOAG had resorted to the court to protect itself, the safety of its aircraft and the safety of the travelling public.
Speaking on the Asso-ciation’s behalf, Consultant Kit Nascimento said that the AOAG wished that the GCAA would employ two, or at least one, suitably qualified FOI. “The problem we have is that they don’t seem to want to spend money to pay a qualified inspector. The industry is urging that that the GCAA engage qualified inspectors and regulators,” he said.
The AOAG again rapped Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn for comments he made about the grounding of an Air Services Limited (ASL) plane.
Mekdeci said he believed the minister was not receiving sound advice from the people close to him about what was going on in the industry.
The Association has held repeated meetings and has been in extensive correspondence with previous ministers, the Director General of Civil Aviation and the Chairman of the Board of the GCAA since 2004 on this matter, which is yet to be satisfactorily resolved.
The AOAG has proposed that the authority utilise the services of the Regional Aviation Safety Oversight System (RASOS) to conduct flight operations oversight until the situation is resolved to its satisfaction.
