(Trinidad Express) Investigations are continuing into what caused the Caribbean Airlines BW523 flight to overshoot the Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway in Guyana.
Through either technical malfunctions or human error, the plane, a Boeing 737-800, carrying 157 passengers and six crew members, crashed into the airport’s perimeter fence, splitting in two.
The flight crashed landed at 1.32 a.m yesterday.
Transport Minister Devant Maharaj said he learned that while there were no serious injuries, one passenger sustained a broken leg and was being treated at hospital.
He was speaking yesterday morning at a news conference at the Piarco International Airport.
By 8.30 a.m yesterday, Maharaj said 101 passengers were already medically examined and no other serious injuries were found.
While Maharaj said he could not answer any questions on an ongoing investigation, he confirmed the pilots were “very experienced”.
He also said the Cheddi Jagan Airport was closed off after the crash, but was expected to re-open just after 10 a.m. yesterday.
Minister of Housing Dr Roodal Moonilal and Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz were already in Guyana on Government business from the night before, and were on the scene assisting the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
Maharaj said Cadiz was visiting the injured at the hospital.
Civil Aviation Authority head Ramesh Lutchmedial, who was also in Guyana, said they were “following protocol”.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, Lutchmedial said the GCAA would be in charge of the investigations since the incident happened on their soil.
At the Piarco International Airport, a small group of standby passengers were waiting to travel to Guyana on CAL.
There were no immediate delays and despite news of the crash, CAL confirmed it had full flights for Guyana.
One woman, Charlotte Mohammed, was hoping to get on the 1 p.m. flight. She said the news of the crash did not stop her from wanting to travel.
“It’s scary, yes. But Caribbean Airlines never really had any problem, so I’m not letting it stop me. The one thing I’m concerned about is that the airport is closed. That could mean we delayed,” she said.
Of the small group still waiting to get to Guyana, some were nervous, but said they did not consider it a “crash”.
“It didn’t fall out of the sky. It didn’t blow up and everybody died. It was a crash landing. I could deal with that,” one man said.
