Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulficar Mohammed says Suriname air carrier, Blue Wing Airline’s safety clearance is up to standard and is continually monitored.
Mohammed, in responding to safety concerns raised by the travelling public here as well as persons within the aviation sector, told Stabroek News yesterday that the safety standards utilized by the Suriname air carrier are continuously monitored, like other airlines, to ensure that they are up to date. Mohammed stated that the GCAA has not received any complaint or concern from anyone here regarding the airline’s safety record.
The US embassy in Suriname announced recently that its staff in the neighbouring country has been banned from travelling with Blue Wing in light of safety concerns. Mohammed told this newspaper yesterday that the policy of the US embassy in most countries includes research following which recommendations are made regarding air travel for embassy staff.
Noting that he was surprised that the move by the US authorities in Suriname has been made public, Mohammed stated that he is aware that recent aircraft accidents which have tainted the image of the carrier are being investigated.
Whatever recommendations come out of those accident investigations, the airline would have to comply with, he noted, even if it includes the revision of the company’s safety plan.
According to a report in the Associated Press (AP), the US Embassy in Paramaribo announced on Monday that it has prohibited the use of the small air carrier by its staff for official domestic travel. Three of the airline’s Antonov An-28, Russian-manufactured aircraft were lost due to crashes, the model being preferred by domestic carriers since they are known for utilizing short distances for take-off and are terrain friendly.
The AP report stated that the announcement comes about three weeks after one of Blue Wing’s small planes, an Antonov AN-28 aircraft, crashed in rough weather, killing all eight people aboard.
The twin-engine craft went down in a forest shortly after taking off from a small airstrip near Godo Holo.
Blue Wing reported a similar crash involving the same model in April 2008. Nineteen people died when the Antonov An-28 craft plane crashed as it approached the Lawa Antino Airport of Benzdorp in south eastern Suriname.
In October 15 last year, another Antonov An- 28 craft departed the runway on landing at the Kwamelasemoetoe Airstrip in the neighbouring country and hit an obstacle, the aircraft was substantially damaged and four persons were injured, one seriously.
Blue Wing Airlines was on a list of aircraft banned by the European Union but was removed from the list on November 28, 2007.
The company began a scheduled service here in February this year with daily flights from Monday to Friday between the Ogle Municipal Airport and Zorg-en-Hoop in the neighbouring state. The airline which was started in 2004 with its base at the latter airfield was described as a small, industrious operation that thrives mostly on the opportunities to move both passengers and cargo available for domestic travel to Suriname’s interior regions occasioned by on-going expansion in that country’s gold sector.
